Phantom Watchers
by Mazanica
Summary: X-post from AO3. Blu wasn't a typical Lapinian, but he learned early on how to play the part. He played it so well that he didn't even know who he was anymore. Then he woke up on a strange planet with eleven people that he never should have met. Can they survive and figure out just what is going on? Who is pulling the strings? Full summary is on my profile. Pairings listed inside.
1. Introduction

This is a fic I've decided to crosspost from AO3. It is extreeeemely AU! But I really enjoy this fic and the universe I've created. I have the first 10 or 11 chapters written already, but I'm only posting the introduction and first chapter here for now.

 **Pairings** : Bonnie/Toy Bonnie main, Goldie/Spring secondary, Mike/Jeremy minor, hinted very minor negligible more-friendship-than-romantic Freddy/Toy Freddy, Foxy/Mangle, and Chica/Toy Chica. Also eventual hinted Shadow Freddy/Shadow Bonnie

 **Warnings** : Original/Toy, homosexual relationships, normalized severe child abuse, somewhat depressive themes, hinted self-harm?, racial tension/racism?, violence, eventual sexual themes, problematic governments and ideologies, Mangle's gender never confirmed, Toy Bonnie and Toy Freddy are both under 18 (meaning there _is_ a relationship with a minor, tho he's 17-ish at the time), sci-fi and survival elements, PLANET NAME PUNS, unpronounceable languages, generalizing years to all be the same as or similar to Earth's for simplicity purposes thx

 **Genre** : Drama/Friendship/Adventure/Romance with sci-fi, somewhat-horror & survivalist elements

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own FNaF or any related characters. They belong to Scott Cawthon.

* * *

 **Introduction**

On a planet, far away and out of sight of Earth, a single sprawling city encompasses the entirety of the planet; sitting on the earth itself, sitting on the oceans, and even floating through the sky, the world was obviously a technological wonderland. A scientist's wet dream, if you would, with its sleek, tall skyscrapers of chrome and glass and its vast underground road systems and underwater tunnels.

It was populated by a race of rabbit-like creatures who had been exploring the universe around them for many thousands of years by that point- long before the modern people of earth developed and began to turn to the stars for answers. They, much as humans did, walked on two legs and had evolved opposable thumbs, allowing them to build things that their ancestors could have only ever dreamed. They were advanced and they were intelligent, and as long as they obeyed the rules, they were _happy_.

However, even in a world where the common person knew more than most scientists on Earth put together did, even this planet had its... _geniuses_. They were not rare, per se, but they were not common and they were highly desirable to have as _your_ child.

This planet was not like Earth. They did not view children the way humans did. To them, children were meant to be molded into what their parents wanted them to be. To them, children were extensions of their parents. Their property, if you would. They began training and school the moment they were able to. By the time a child on this planet was two years old, they should know their basic maths and their alphabet. But, sometimes, there came a child who comprehended _more_ than the basics at this tender age. Sometimes, there came a child who was unlike its peers. A child who knew more than they had any right to know or understand.

Such was the case in the home of General Commander Akrai Cator, sitting just outside the center of the Capital Square.

A tiny blue rabbit, sitting on the floor and playing with a supposed toy, looked up from his hologram as he heard footsteps approaching from the room next to his. He continued looking up, up, up until he could see the face of an adult rabbit woman. In her hands she held a holoscreen- a device that was made of two strange metallic rectangles that, when separated, formed a screen between. Kneeling down in front of the toddler, she pulled the top and bottom from each other, the holographic page spreading between the two bars. The child tilted his head slightly, his eyes scanning over the numbers and symbols on the screen and frowning.

The equation made no sense to him.

"Bandi, tell us the answer to this equation," the woman commanded as another, unfamiliar rabbit came to a stop next to him, a strange device held in his hands. Bandi frowned at the screen and turned his eyes back to his hologram, lightly tapping on the shutdown icon so as not to waste its power source. It looked like this would take a bit.

"I can't solve it, mom," he answered once the hologram disappeared, leaving him with a small device no bigger than his toddler thumb.

"Just try it, Bandi," his mother pushed, and the small rabbit frowned and looked up at her, brows drawn together.

"But it can't be solved," he countered, shaking his head adamantly. "You can't divide kindar by tryvid, and the roklon makes the entire second half obsolete!"

The rabbit male standing next to his mother raised a brow, glancing down at his device. "Correct," he muttered. "Ma'am, you said your son is only two and a half?"

"Yes, sir," she said proudly, closing the holoscreen and tapping something on the side. When she opened it again, a new equation was on the page. "And this one, Bandi?"

Bandi looked at the holoscreen, a frown tugging at his lips. He could remember reading about this kind of equation in his mother's books, the ones kept in the library… "Isolate the variable and divide it by strev… multiply by kin and divide the answer by tryvid. Then multiply that by twenty-nine point seven, subtract four, and you get tryvid-eight dash one two six gar."

"Correct." The man sounded genuinely surprised, raising a brow at the child. Bandi tilted his head slightly, curious, as the man typed something into his strange device. _What is he doing?_

"One more, Bandi." He turned his gaze back to his mother as she opened the holoscreen again. Another, less familiar, equation was on the screen, but something didn't... _look_ right…

"That's written wrong," he giggled, looking up at his mother. "If that was right then the whole planet would die, mom! According to the Akrias principle, that much pressure would crush an _atom_. You need to switch gar and tryvid around, and replace one with zero."

"Correct," the man announced. "Three for three advanced education equations at two years old. We'll take him in for extra testing, Ma'am Martel."

Bandi blinked owlishly and looked up at his beaming mother. "Testing?" he questioned, but neither adult answered him.

"That's wonderful!" the woman praised, smiling down at Bandi. "If he's confirmed, we'll begin all of the proper training right away." Bandi looked between the adults, his ears lowering. _Training?_ He had a bad feeling in his stomach, but at that age he didn't understand dread. It was a foreign concept that would never be taught to the child.

"Thank you for your time. If you would get your son's most necessary belongings, we'll be on our way. He'll be back within the next three days."

At just two years old, as he watched his mother begin gathering his clothes together, Bandi suddenly felt like he had made a horrible mistake.

* * *

He jumped up and down excitedly in his room, strumming the strings on the strange, primitive thing his father had brought home from one of the colonies. At four years old, the instrument was too big for him to hold, but that didn't stop him from exploring it and learning everything he could about it.

It had no screens, no buttons, and no holograms, but it made the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. It wasn't made of metal, but it was cool and smooth to the touch. It was the nicest-feeling thing he had ever touched. It wasn't silver or white or black but a deep colour that Bandi had never seen before- except when his father took him to see the oxygen factories, of course. It was the colour of the trees, but so much richer, purer, _redder_.

It was _beautiful_ and his father had given it to _him_. He couldn't _wait_ to be old enough to actually _use_ it, and a wide smile broke out on his face at the thought of actually holding the instrument in his hands.

 _Chaska_. That was what his father called it. It was a foreign word and it settled strangely, but deliciously, on his tongue. _Chaska, from the colony Alpha C 301._ They had nothing like it on Lapinia. He had no idea what the sounds it made could be called. He didn't even know what an instrument was, besides a scientific instrument used in experimentation or observation, but this definitely was not _that_.

Whatever it was, it was beautiful. More beautiful than any shiny chrome device he had ever held in his hand was.

* * *

Things weren't exactly good for Lapinian children, though… especially ones who are discovered to be young geniuses.

"You must question everything. Take nothing at face value, except the word of your authorities; your parents and your government. They know best, Bandi, you must never disobey them. Give them the respect they deserve."

"Investigate everything. You must know how everything works, or you will be ignorant. Ignorance is unacceptable. Ignorance gets you sent to the camps. Do you want to be sent to the camps, Bandi?"

"Sometimes our base instincts try to manifest themselves. We are evolved, Bandi. We are intelligent. We must ignore those primitive instincts. Physical attraction is obsolete, the Matching will provide you with your ideal mate. Pain is not real, it is simply a creation of the mind; we are intelligent and evolved, Bandi. Pain should not affect us. Sadness and anger are illogical, and we are not illogical creatures, Bandi."

Yes, there were many lessons Bandi learned, but the one he hated most was the lesson on _pain_.

His father held his wrists against the floor and had his other hand pressed firmly against Bandi's back so that he couldn't squirm. He was only five years old, and even he could tell that pain was not only in the mind. He could tell it was completely physical- nothing _in the mind_ about that!

The knife sliding across his shoulder blades was agony, and he desperately bit his lip and screwed his eyes shut. If he made a single sound, it would only prolong the lesson.

"No reaction, Bandi," his mother hissed, pulling the blade away and watching the small rabbit tremble. "If you even so much as _tremble_ during the government exam, your grade will drop. We don't take anything less than perfection, Bandi."

He felt tears in the corner of his eyes. He hoped neither his mother or father saw them. Tears only made things worse.

"We are intelligent and evolved. You are moreso. Pain is just an illusion. Stop crying, crying will get you an instant fail! Bandi, if you fail your pain endurance test, you'll be sent to camp. Do you want to be sent to camp? And if you fail it twice, you'll end up _below_. Do you want to go _below_ , Bandi? Do you?"

Five years old, he failed his parents' test. It wasn't the first time, but it was the last time.

* * *

At least, it was the last time he _actually_ failed.

He stared at the report on the holoscreen, his mother's angry face staring down at him. He was just seven years old and had had his first major class exam that year… and he felt horrified with himself. His previously untarnished record of perfection- gone.

"Ninety-eight percentage? What is the meaning of this, Bandi?!"

Bandi winced and looked at the ground. Ninety-eight percentage wasn't a bad score. In fact, it was good. Most of his classmates barely got seventy-three percentage… but when he tried to say so, it only made his mother angrier.

"You are not your classmates, Bandi! You are certified by the Government to be a genius! You should be getting one-hundred percentages! You should be making perfect scores on everything! You should be correcting the _teacher_ , even. This- this is unacceptable!"

Bandi glanced up at his mother. He didn't cry, though he desperately _wanted_ to. Crying wasn't logical.

He'd known she'd be angry the moment he found out he had missed that single question. It wasn't _his_ fault it was worded strangely, but no one would listen to _him_.

His mother stared down, harsh and unforgiving. And then she said something that made his heart clench.

"I'm taking that stupid Chaska from you. It's obviously posing a distraction. I should have known better than to let such a worthless device into my house. Improve your grades and maybe you'll get it back."

He stared, wide-eyed, as she whirled around and marched into his bedroom. He did nothing to stop her, though.

After all, parents knew best, didn't they? He had to give them the respect they deserved.

* * *

"We believe your son would be more useful to the people of Lapinia if he is switched into a dual pathway."

"What dual pathway were you thinking, Chancellor?"

"I see you selected military pathway when he was born, but as of right now he has the highest scores in _every_ division from _every_ school level _planet_ -wide. We believe he would be _much_ better suited in the science pathway- but not just _generic_ sciences. He seems to show an advanced knowledge of the ships your troops use, General Commander Cator. We believe a military-science pathway would be..."

Bandi frowned and quietly shut his bedroom door, leaning against the wall next to it and sliding down to the floor. He had turned eleven years old recently, but it didn't mean much anymore. He let his head fall against the wall and lightly stroked the wood of his Chaska sitting next to him. He wanted so badly to play it, but that would get his mother's attention and he'd get in trouble.

He enjoyed playing it, still. It was the _only_ thing he enjoyed anymore; when he played it, he felt like the world surrounding him, restricting him, melted away. He felt like he wasn't Bandi Cator, certified genius son of the General Commander Akrai Cator and Doctor Aniya Martel. He felt like his own individual person. He felt like… like…

Like _Blu_.

He turned his gaze down to the instrument, feeling another emotion he had never learned the name of; longing. It was still beautiful no matter how damaged it had gotten in the last three or so years. It had been nearly an entire year before he managed to convince his mother to hand it back into his possession, but now he was only allowed to play it after dinner, when it was inappropriate to study.

 _Studying._ That was all his life had become. School, study, endurance lessons, and sometimes he had time to play. _I should have pretended to be an idiot._

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He felt like his heart hurt, but he shut the feeling out. _It's only in your mind, Bandi. It's not real._

He didn't shed a single tear.

* * *

"Tell me what some of your interests are, Bandi."

He stared straight ahead with dull eyes, ignoring the agonizing pain shooting up and down his right arm as the scalpel carved deep lines into his hand and along his forearm. He knew such deep cuts would scar, even if they were treated immediately with the best, most advanced medical devices. There would simply be too much damage.

The rabbit sitting in front of him dragged the scalpel slowly, careful not to cause any irreversible damage but intensely studying Bandi's expression and posture. He kept his expression blank and his posture relaxed.

"I just enjoy technology," he answered flatly. It was a lie, of course. Truth be told, Bandi was _sick_ of technology. He had begun to _hate_ it years ago, long before he turned fifteen and had to take the dreaded Endurance Test. If technology all disappeared and every single person on Lapinia died, including himself, because they could not survive without it, he could _not_ care less.

He'd _welcome_ it, even.

"Just technology?"

 _Seven minutes and thirty three point twelve seconds_ , he noted silently to himself. "There's nothing else worth being interested in." Another lie, but he knew it was the answer they were waiting for. On Lapinia, technology was their life.

Not for Bandi. In fact, to Bandi… technology represented _everything_ he hated. His government, his parents, his culture, his planet, and _himself._

"Good, good," the government official murmured, and Bandi risked glancing down at his arm.

The blue fur was stained red and he could even see a drop collecting on his fingertip. His arm was completely relaxed, and he made sure not to tense it as he watched the blood drip down to the floor. Pain like this had stopped bothering him years ago. It was just another one of his parents' tests… but there had never been that much blood before.

 _Fascinating._

He almost smiled at the sight but he caught himself in time. _Neutral, Bandi. Neutral._

"Tell me, how long have you been in this room, Bandi?"

"Eight minutes and forty-nine point seventy-eight seconds," he answered without hesitance.

"Hm, precise. Very well, you're done here. Send the next student in and head to the nurse's office."

Bandi didn't raise a brow as he turned to leave, despite it being his first instinct. The fact that they were sending him to a nurse despite the medical device sitting _right behind_ the official told Bandi all he needed to know.

The Test was not over.

He kept his expression neutral, his eyes dull, despite the fact that he _really_ wanted to scream and cry. Not from the pain- it definitely hurt but he could deal with that, it was only in his mind after all- but because everybody seemed perfectly okay with putting _fifteen-year-olds_ through this _every year._

 _What's the point of this anyway?_ Bandi wondered, opening the door with his uninjured hand. He did it simply so none of his blood got on the door. He stepped out into the hall, and every fifteen year old student turned to look at him. Dully, he called out, "Five seven nine," and then he turned and walked down the hall. He knew he was still being watched by a tester.

He remained neutral.

When he reached the nurse, he knocked and waited for permission to enter. The nurse turned to look at him and gestured him over, pulling out something that looked… very primitive, actually. _I knew the test wasn't over._

"Hello, Bandi Cator," the nurse greeted, giving him a kind smile. "Let me patch up your hand."

He held his hand out without hesitance, noting as they raised a brow at the state of his arm. _I guess they don't normally do that. He must have really wanted to make me crack. Joke's on him, mother and father have been doing worse than that for eight years now._

"Does this hurt?" the nurse asked as they held his hand. He watched boredly as the needle pierced his skin and pulled through, sewing the slices back together. _Very primitive._

"Pain is only in the mind," he recited with no emotion. "It doesn't matter if it hurts. Pain isn't real."

He knew it was the answer they were looking for. He knew that when he got home, his parents would use a proper medikit after removing the thread from his skin. This method was outdated by at _least_ eight hundred years, and Bandi could see they weren't even doing it correctly. _I doubt you're actually a nurse._

"Good, good. Well then," the "nurse" sighed, washing the blood off of his arm. He was almost disappointed to see it go. _Red is a really nice colour._ "You're free to go. Head to the front desk to receive your score."

Bandi nodded and politely said, "Thank you, nurse." He turned around and walked out of the door, heading towards the front room where his parents, among others, were waiting. He walked up behind them and looked up at the holoboard above the round desk, frowning as the names were encoded and popped up on the screen for everyone to see.

 _Jaia Soln: 75% - PASS_  
 _Hilder Dit: 92% - EXCEEDS_  
 _Fen Carn: 26% - FAIL_

Then his name popped up, and as he looked at the screen he felt no joy at all.

 _Bandi Cator- 100% - EXCEEDS_

"Wonderful job, Bandi!" his father praised, beaming down at him.

"Come, let's get our download so we can put it on the wall," his mother added.

He watched as his parents headed towards the counter then his eyes trailed up to the board again. He got a perfect score again, but it didn't make him feel happy. In fact, it made him feel... disappointed. He… felt… _angry,_ even. His parents were overjoyed, but he _hated_ it. Why should he be happy? He got a perfect score in how to be an emotionless, unresponsive, obedient little _robot._ The perfect Lapinian, if you would. And around him, people were giving him _congratulations_ on it.

 _Oh joy, while you celebrate I'm slowly dying inside._

But he couldn't think like that. Thoughts and feelings like that… well...

They were only in his mind.

* * *

 **Notes**

*Chaska - Essentially a guitar, just a different language

I posted this as the introduction chapter so you can understand the irony of later chapters and just how much no one knows what goes on on Blu's planet

By the way, Bandi Cator is Toy Bonnie, in case you didn't catch that


	2. Strangers

"Hm... fascinating, is it not?"

"That depends on what you mean, my friend. What is fascinating?"

"Look at this planet. It's an advanced technological wonder and everyone seems happy, but this... _one_ person... looks absolutely miserable. He would rather hole up with a primitive instrument from their most rebellious colony than work on a computer as his fellow citizens do."

"Oh... that's Lapinia."

"Yes, I know what planet it is. I selected it, remember? I just wonder why he looks so miserable when everyone else seems to be happy."

"They're pretty abusive towards their children, actually. They think it's building them up and molding them into the perfect adult. Most children are properly brainwashed by the time they are seven years old. This one looks at least fourteen, maybe older... I wonder what went wrong."

"You sound as though you have experience."

"That no longer matters. I _am_ curious, though... this Lapinian isn't acting like a typical Lapinian. He seems to be... embracing a personal lifestyle more indicative of a colonist or Ursian. He is focusing solely on an instrument he doesn't even understand... and he seems to know decently enough how to play it. Hm... what's this? His mother?"

"He is being lectured now it seems. And… she's taking the instrument away? Yet still he just sits there… doing nothing? Yes... That doesn't sound like a Lapinian to me. The Lapinians I have observed in the past have always had a strong drive to learn and explore, never sit idle staring at a wall..."

"It is possible that he knows everything about his world already. There is nothing more for him to explore _or_ learn- it is normal, boring, and perhaps even, hm… _painful_ to him. ... Maybe... Perhaps... I think... we should use this one for the experiment as well."

"A _Lapinian?_ You do realize he would never survive on H3MR-2X, right?"

"I think you're underestimating him. Besides, it might be helpful for the others to have a Lapinian on their side. I think... they will figure the planet out quicker. A higher chance at survival, even. It would prolong the experiment as well, we could possibly learn more..."

"He will clash horribly with the Lacatran colonists."

"That is fine, it adds an interesting dynamic to this experiment. Besides, we have three Bears selected, so three Rabbits doesn't seem very out of place."

"Yet two Chickens, two Foxes, and two Humans?"

"To be fair, Avia, Vulpinia, and Earth do not have colony planets."

"Point taken. You're sure you wish to use the Lapinian? If he dies, it'll be on your hands, Bonsha."

"I'm quite aware, Shafred. I just don't think you're giving him enough credit. Just look at him. He may not be very strong physically or interested in what is surrounding him... but he is clearly intelligent and, ah... _hurting_ , I think. He seems to reject Lapinia as much as the Lacatrans do."

"If you insist. So, our experiment lineup: two Bears from Ursius; a third Bear from the Ursian colony Ardraw, better known as MB27X; two Foxes from the new Vulpinia planet; two Chickens from Avia, which lacks advanced technology; two Humans from Earth, which also lacks advanced technology; two Rabbits from the Lapinian colony Lacatra, better known as Alpha C 301, which lacks _Earth-_ level technology; and a third Rabbit from Lapinia itself, which is the third most advanced race, behind our people and the Teppupians, in this quadrant of the universe. And we agreed the Common Language to be the Earthen language English, yes?"

"Yes."

"Bonsha, I honestly believe this spells disaster."

"Just trust me. Besides, it's not like we're emotionally invested in this experiment."

"Very funny. If I still had emotions I'd have probably laughed."

"If you did there wouldn't have been a joke to make. Come, let's speak to the Fuellers and Fritz, pass the addition to the experiment by them."

* * *

It was warm.

That was the first thing that registered in the blue rabbit's mind.

It was warm, and underneath him he could feel... grass? And dirt? And the scent in the air… it reminded him of the oxygen factories on his planet, where trees and other plants were grown in ways to maximize the production of oxygen... The air also felt rather... _damp_... It was strange...

 _But I'm in my bedroom..._

That didn't match up, though. His bedroom smelled like, well... actually, it didn't _have_ a scent, except for his bedsheets. They had _his_ scent, but everything else in his room smelled of _nothingness_. This was, obviously, not "nothingness."

The logical conclusion was that he wasn't in his bedroom. If he wasn't in his bedroom, then _where am I?_

His eyes opened slowly. All he could see was wispy greens and browns. It took him a moment to register that he was lying on the ground on his stomach, with his cheek against the dirt. He felt strangely groggy and weak... and lightheaded... as if he'd been...

 _Tranquilized?!_

Suddenly, his eyes widened and he shoved himself off of the ground, swiftly standing and whirling around to look at his surroundings, ignoring the way his head seemed to be spinning.

There were several more creatures lying scattered around the clearing they were in. Right off the bat he noticed two more Rabbits and three Bears, and he was pretty sure there were Foxes, but the other four creatures were unfamiliar to him.

One of the Bears was stirring so he turned his gaze around again, studying their surroundings.

It _wasn't_ a clearing, actually. They were all laying on the forest floor, the trees- all much larger than _anything_ he'd ever seen- decently spaced apart. He found himself looking up, up, up until his eyes found the canopy, so much further up than the factories' roofs were. They were tall and the leaf cover was thick.

 _And yet I can see as clear as day and grass is growing on the floor…_

A groan to his right got the blue Rabbit's attention and his gaze snapped over to a red Fox as he slowly sat up, blinking around at their surroundings. The Bear from earlier was shaking a golden Bear awake, and the other two Rabbits were slowly standing up now. One of the strange hairless creatures was sitting, staring owlishly around, while neither of the feathered beings had moved yet.

"Nng… what the heck?"

Bandi turned his gaze back to the trees around, brow furrowing in concentration. _Humid forest, not tropical but there's no leaves or their remains on the forest floor, so doesn't look deciduous either... the soil is soft, doesn't offer much grip. Sunlight getting through the canopy despite how thick it is? Thick, green grass on the floor despite all of this? Completely silent... This... doesn't make sense._

"Ugh, Freddy...? What's going on? Where are we?"

"What..."

Bandi didn't look at the people around him. Instead he concentrated on his thoughts, frowning and ears flat. _I don't... know. That's a strange thing to say... I don't..._ know... _I don't know._

 _Huh. Cool._

"Hey!" The angry voice sliced through Bandi's thoughts just as that knife had cut through his skin just a year before. Even now, as the memory flashed through his mind, he could see the blood dripping onto the floor from his fingertips... "Lapinian!" The word was spat like a curse and Bandi realized immediately just what was calling out to him.

 _Oh. No. It's a colonist,_ he sighed silently and turned his gaze to the other two Rabbits, letting his neutral expression slip into place. _Tall, broad shoulders, wiry muscle, look like they want to kill me- they must be from Alpha C 301. Brilliant, of all the beings to be trapped somewhere I don't know with._

"Yes?" he questioned flatly. However, he didn't give the colonists a chance to respond as he realized that something was _wrong wrong_ _wrong_ about the word he had spoken. He understood it yet it made no sense at all- it was unfamiliar, foreign on his tongue. Almost like... "Wait, what language is _this?!"_

The colonist had to pause at that comment, his anger being replaced by confusion as he realized that the language they were speaking was completely unfamiliar to them. The two woken Bears also paused and the Fox frowned in confusion; clearly it wasn't any of _their_ languages either.

"Uh, English?" one of the strange fleshy creatures suggested, bemusement lacing its tone, as it reached over to its lookalike, shaking it. "Hey, stranger, wake up!"

"English...?" _What a strange word_.

Although he could understand all of the others' words perfectly despite their strange foreign sounds, that one stuck out as having no meaning at all. It was just... _English_. It took him a moment to realize that it was the _name_ of the language; an unfamiliar language which had no name in Lapinian. _If I can understand the language but some words don't translate..._

"Oh... a translation program," he mumbled to himself, hand quickly going to his temple. _Did... did somebody really put a device to make us speak another_ language _in our brains? Talk about invasive...  
_

"Lapinian," the purple-furred colonist repeated, glaring at him. Apparently he recovered quicker than the others and was just shoving the issue aside for the time being. "What did you do?!"

"Me?" Bandi looked at him, dropping his hand back to his side and letting his expression fall into neutrality again. He hadn't even noticed it slip away in the first place… _I can't slip up, not in front of a bunch of strangers_. "I did nothing."

The colonist sneered at him, rolling his eyes. _Clearly he thinks me a liar. Jerk._ "Oh yes, like I'm going to believe that, you little-"

"Calm down," the golden Bear suddenly cut in, stepping forward as the purple rabbit took a step towards Bandi. "If Lapinia was behind this I doubt they would have left one of their own kind here, especially a kid."

Bandi's ears twitched and he frowned, crossing his arms. _Kid?! I'm sixteen, I graduate school and start my Entrance Program in just a few months! "Kid" my ass!_ He didn't voice these thoughts, though; he knew by Ursian standards he _was_ a kid, even if the Ursian government commonly dealt with seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen year old Lapinian delegates and knew they "grew up fast," as the Ursian military officer who often conferred with his father had once noted. After all, the Ursians didn't rob their children of their childhood like the Lapinians did.

But no one else needed to know that.

"Lapinia?" the squishy, fleshy thing from before questioned, voice thick with confusion, but no one paid it any mind for the time being. They could explain things later.

The colonist sneered towards Bandi. The blue Rabbit simply lifted his hands in a defensive gesture. "Hey, I had nothing to do with this, I'm still in school," he huffed, glaring right back at the other Rabbit. "I don't have _access_ to the things I'd need to do _this_ ," he added, gesturing around at their surroundings. He didn't want to admit he had no idea whatsoever where they were or what some of these beings were, though.

Admitting it to himself was strange enough.

"Agh," another voice cut in before the colonist could respond, and Bandi's gaze moved over towards the second Fox. He couldn't tell right off the bat if it was male or female, but it was white and pink and seemed to be wearing some type of makeup. "I feel like I was hit by a train," the Animal complained as it sat up, yellow eyes scanning their surroundings. "Uh...?"

"We don't know," the second Fox answered the unasked question.

"Do we not?" the darker brown Bear questioned, looking around them all. His eyes landed on Bandi.

 _Oh great, here we go with the expectations already._ "No, we don't," he deadpanned, gaze flickering off to the side. _How could you expect me to know, anyway? I've only seen this one stupid area!_

"That's fine," the third, smallest, Bear dismissed. Bandi hadn't even realized he'd woken up. _Pay better attention, Bandi..._ "We're somewhere strange that none of us recognize, obviously, so wherever we are we seem to be in a survival situation."

"Wonderful," the other Rabbit, this time a scarred golden Animal, scowled as he turned his grey gaze to the red-eyed colonist. "A survival situation, stuck with a Lapinian who's probably never even _seen_ a tree before. Sounds like perfect odds."

"Tell me about it," the colonist muttered, rolling his eyes. Bandi scowled for a moment before schooling his expression back into indifference.

What did he care about a couple of colonists' opinions? They were just colonists who knew nothing about him _or_ his planet. Their opinions didn't even matter.

"We should at least learn everyone's names," the darker brown Bear suggested, eying them all. Bandi noticed that the two feathered creatures and the second fleshy being had also risen. "It'll make getting along easier, I'm sure."

"Ah, pardon the interruption, mate," the red Fox suddenly cut in, "but who's to say we should stick together at all?"

"It makes the odds of survival better," the Bear answered simply. "Especially seeing as we have no idea where we are or what kind of things might be on this planet."

The Fox frowned but he seemed to accept the answer... for the moment, anyway. "Well I be Foxy."

 _He speaks strangely,_ Bandi noted silently. He chose not to share the observation.

"Vixy," the other Fox put in. "But please, I prefer Mangle," they added as they picked some grass out of their fur.

"Freddy and Goldie Fazbear," the brown and gold Bears chorused.

"Those sound like Earthen names," one of the fleshy beings muttered to the other. _Earthen._ That was a word that translated. _Terran. They're from Terra.  
_

"Fredric Farrell," the third Bear introduced with a slight movement of his hand. Bandi wasn't sure what it meant, but this Bear somehow looked different from the others. Smaller, more agile-looking. _Must be an Ursian colonist._

"Bonnie and Spring Trey," the purple colonist introduced, crossing his arms and glancing towards his brother. The golden Rabbit tilted his head at his brother before they glanced at the strange fleshy beings.

"Mike Schmidt," the darker-haired fleshy creature put in, watching them all with a strange expression. It was like he didn't know what to think about the situation- as though the sight of the Animals was strange. _Sorry, Mikey-boy, you're the weird one here._

"Jeremy Fitzgerald," the lighter-haired look-a-like introduced, giving them a small, nervous smile. He seemed to be taking the situation a bit better than Mike.

"Wait," Bandi cut in before the feathery creatures could start, "What _are_ you two?"

"Uh..." They glanced at each other, as if surprised by the question. Jeremy answered, "We're humans. From Earth."

 _Humans._ It was unfamiliar and didn't translate in his mind. Judging by the others' expressions, it didn't translate to them either.

"Moving on," one of the feathery creatures decided. "I'm Chica."

"Huh, funny, I'm Chii," the second feathery creature said, glancing at the first. "We're from Avia. Chickens."

 _Avia. Chickens._ These were unfamiliar too. _I wonder how it is all of us came to be on this planet... I mean, I've never even heard of Avia and Earth is that little backwater planet in the Trasvyl system, but-_

"Well, what about you, Lapinian, gonna give us your name?" Bonnie questioned with a scowl, raising a brow at him. Bandi blinked owlishly; had he zoned out? _Eesh, those tranquilizers must still be getting to me._

"Sorry," he said instinctively, frowning to himself. "Bandi Cator, b-"

"Cator? As in _General_ _Commander_ Cator?" The voice was dangerously low and it took Bandi everything he had to not flinch away. "As in, the person who ordered over fifty Lacatran villages to be _destroyed_?"

Bandi crossed his arms, pulling his defenses up immediately. "I was all of _six_ when all of that happened, you can _not_ blame _me_ for what my father did," he told them. He tried to keep his voice as flat and neutral as possible, reminding himself that the fear he suddenly felt was illogical.

 _Then again, Lapinian rules don't apply here. Those two would have no problem killing me. Huh..._

"I think we damn well can," Spring snarled, taking a step towards him. Goldie was quick to intervene, stepping between the Rabbits again.

"Hey now," he warned, eying the golden Rabbit warily. "We have no idea what's going on here and whether you like it or not, Bandi might be able to offer some help."

Bandi wanted to speak up, he wanted to ask the bear to _not_ call him Bandi, but... he chose not to. He had no reason to bare himself to these strangers. He had no reason to confess how much he hated the name his father gave him.

Instead, he chose to say, "Look, colonist, I don't even _like_ the general commander, so I wouldn't mind one single bit if you don't relate me to him at all." It was the simple truth, something he never tried to hide even on his home planet; he didn't like his father but he gave him the respect he deserved as both his father and as the highest military official on Lapinia. No one, not even his father or mother, was bothered by this fact. As long as he respected and obeyed him, it was okay to dislike him.

Therefore, he didn't really understand why everyone was giving him strange and/or surprised looks. The Bear siblings exchanged a glance with one another and Bandi raised a brow, frowning slightly. "What? It's the truth."

"You don't like your own father?" the red Fox- Foxy- questioned him incredulously. Bandi looked at him and then around at the others, all of them watching him with those strange, confused expressions. Even the colonists seemed surprised by his words, as though disliking his own father was horrible.

 _I don't... understand._

"Yes...?" he frowned, trying not to let his confusion reflect on his face. "What? Why are you all looking at me like that? So I don't like my father, big deal, I don't like my mother or the Chancellor either."

There was silence for a few moments after his declaration. Bandi didn't like it.

"Geez, spoiled _and_ ungrateful," Bonnie snorted, breaking the silence and rolling his eyes. Bandi tensed up and narrowed his eyes at the larger Rabbit.

 _Spoiled? Ungrateful? Hell yes I'm ungrateful, why would I be grateful for my parents literally stabbing me in the back?_

They didn't know about that, though. He had to remind himself that no one, not even the Lapinians' closest allies, knew about what _really_ happened on Lapinia.

 _I think I'll keep it that way._

"Whatever you say, colonist," he dismissed carelessly, drawing his neutral expression back into place. Pushing his anger aside in favor of neutrality, he settled into the familiar numbness that accompanied it. _Oh man I want my Chaska._

"We should find or make shelter," Fredric interrupted before anyone else could speak. "It's safest to assume night will not be good, so we should make shelter to last tonight and perhaps search the area in the morning."

 _Make shelter? How?_ Bandi didn't know the first thing about survival. Undoubtedly they all _knew_ that, but the colonists had absolutely no problem in pointing it out.

"I doubt there's any _technology_ lying around," Bonnie groused, glaring over towards Bandi. Bandi didn't let his neutral expression slip, instead simply looking back at the colonist boredly. "The Lapinian's just useless here, I doubt it could even climb a tree."

 _It._ He noted that word, that word that invalidated him as a person. _Oh how fitting that seems sometimes, huh?_

Instead of saying as much, Bandi just tilted his head at the purple-furred Rabbit. "Yes. I _don't_ know the first thing about survival. But, you know, that's because I live on a planet where I don't _need_ to. Not everyone has to live like savages, you know." He had _no_ idea why he added that; maybe he just wanted to get a rise out of the other Rabbit.

 _Or maybe I just have a death wish._

"Just stay out of the way," Bonnie snarled, turning towards him. "This is already gonna be hard enough without you tripping everyone up-"

"Back off, Bonnie," Fredric warned. "It's not his fault he was raised in a different environment than the rest of us."

"It's _useless_ and can't do _anything_ , it-"

"-has had enough," Bandi cut in flatly. "If you _need_ me, which I highly doubt since I'm too _stupid_ apparently to pick up some sticks, I'm going to go explore around."

Exploring _did_ sound nice. He _was_ curious about the planet. It was new, it was _different_ , it was unlike anything he'd seen before, and even through the numbness and anger twisting in his stomach he could feel that deeply-ingrained desire to learn. It was a desire that he hadn't felt in a long time.

"I'll _try_ not to get my useless tail _lost_ ," he added with a sneer as he spun around and walked away through the forest, ignoring the Bears' calls for him to _come back, we don't know what's out there_.

"Fucking Lapinian's gonna get himself killed."

 _Fucking._ Another word without translation. _Oh well_.

He walked through the forest, glancing around at his surrounding. There really wasn't anything of note so far, but the anger was swiftly returning to him, overcoming his curiosity. When it became clear none of them actually followed him, Bandi finally allowed his neutral expression to slip away, a scowl sliding into place.

"Useless, huh?" he muttered, stepping over a tree root and knocking a branch out of the way a little more aggressively than necessary. "Who the hell do you think seeded your entire planet? Your ancestors were Lapinian, idiot." He jumped over a ditch between two trees and swatted at some leaves, which almost immediately sprung back into place and smacked him in the face. He glared at the offending piece of nature as he passed, thoughtlessly rubbing his cheek.

"And what was that about spoiled?" he asked the trees around him, kicking up some of the loose soil and the grass that, logically, should not be growing at all. "Yes, I'm so spoiled for never getting to do what I want and being _tortured_ for _hours_ when I was a child in the name of _science is superior and emotion is illogical!"_

Bandi knew he was being immature. He was being very... _un-Lapinian_. If his parents saw how he was acting, he'd _never_ get his Chaska back. Hell, he'd probably be sent to a _camp_ for letting something as _illogical_ as _anger_ take over his mind.

But… he wasn't _on_ Lapinia, and his parents and the government and the camps weren't _there,_ and it felt so _good_ to just let his thoughts flow free, to feel the blood rushing past his ears and not have to try and control the beating of his heart, to just _let it go_. It felt so _good_ to just let go of control, and _no one_ was there to witness it. No one was there to judge him, to lecture him, to _control_ him.

"Stupid jerks. What right do _you_ have to judge _me?_ You know even _less_ about me than my _parents_ do!"

This time, as the blue Rabbit angrily slammed his hand against some vines hanging down from a branch above, something... _peculiar_ happened. His hand got _tangled_ in the vines. Noticing this, he paused and looked at the vines clinging to his hand, raising a brow quizzically at them. _Now a_ tree _is trying to control me?_

"Oh, sorry, did I just touch a carnivorous tree?" he snarked at the vines, roughly tearing his hand away from them.

The pain that shot up through his arm was unlike _anything_ he had ever felt before, and a short, pained screech escaped his throat before he could even register it. Quickly, he brought his bloodied hand up to his chest and took deep, steadying breaths, closing his eyes and concentrating. His anger fled in favor of the old lesson his parents had taught him so long ago.

 _It's only in your mind, Blu. It's only in your mind. You're intelligent. You can ignore it._

That mantra running through his brain, he opened his eyes and looked at his hand. It was sliced on the palm and three shallow cuts extended horizontally across all of his fingers, barring his thumb. Blood poured out of the wound on his palm and he found himself, not for the first time, mesmerized by the shining red collecting in his fur. It stood out, stark against the bright blue.

 _Red is such a beautiful colour...  
_

Shaking his head, he used his uninjured hand to tear a part of his shirt off and pressed it against the wound, swiftly cleaning the blood away. It hurt horribly but he smiled anyway; _it's only in my mind, after all_.

Once the wound was cleared of the puddle of blood, he pulled the fabric away to actually _look_ at the injury.

His hand was sliced completely open; he could see the _bone._ In fact, he realized, whatever had cut him had actually _cut_ the bone. His eyes flew up to the vines hanging innocently from their mother tree, but the red clinging to them proved their guilt. Somehow a _plant_ had torn through his skin and cut into his bone with little to no resistance.

Bandi studied them for several silent seconds, tilting his head and narrowing his eyes. _That angle... Just slightly more to the left and I would have lost my hand._

The realization didn't bring _quite_ the horror it should have. All it brought was the fear of never being able to play his Chaska again... and a thought.

 _If this could cut bone... what could it do to wood?_

His eyes scanned the vine, following it up up up, and observed the way it curled harmlessly around its mother tree, and then his eyes traveled along the vine to a separate tree nearby. It was slowly, over time, being sliced in half as the vine grew around it, reaching over from its mother tree like a parasite bent on destroying its competition.

 _A defense mechanism. Wow..._

The Rabbit reached forward with his uninjured hand and carefully took a bit of loose vine between his thumb and index finger, holding it up to his face in order to inspect it. He tilted his head slightly as he gradually applied pressure. It didn't take long for the vine to cut through his fur and skin, but he didn't even wince as he watched the blood bead and run from the two shallow cuts the vine left.

Green eyes trailed over to the dying tree and then back to the vine again.

His forced smile suddenly morphed into a wide grin, an idea blooming in his mind. All pain forgotten, he dropped the bloodied strip of cloth down onto the grass and moved towards one of the mother tree's fallen branches.

 _I need to test my theory..._

* * *

 **Notes**

There is initial animosity between the Rabbits but everything will be cleared up within the first five chapters, no worry. There'll still be tension (you can't get rid of a lifetime of beliefs/biases in just a few days) but Spring and Bonnie won't pose a threat to Bandi/Blu's safety for very long.


	3. Hope and Freedom

Fredric heaved a soft sigh as he pushed past a particularly young tree, glancing down at the forest floor. The footprints were still clear and he had followed them a fair distance already. There were no scuff marks or signs that the Rabbit had tripped or even stumbled as he walked, so it was safe to assume the Rabbit was at least unharmed.

Up ahead, a sound interrupted the daunting silence of the forest; humming. It was bright and cheerful sounding and not unpleasant in the least, though it sounded somehow _strange_... as if the hummer wasn't quite sure what they were doing with their voice. He headed in the direction of the sound, noting that the footprints followed this direction. _It's probably Bandi._

Soon he came upon two trees with a dark green vine strung up between them, pulled and tied taught. Fredric frowned at the sight and let his eyes trail to the other side where the blue Rabbit stood with his back to the Bear. He seemed to be preoccupied with something.

Fredric approached the vine, raising a brow. _It doesn't look like this serves any purpose..._ He reached out to grab it, but before his hand could make contact Bandi's ears perked and he said, "Don't touch it." Blinking, the Bear looked up towards the Rabbit.

"Why?" he questioned, though he pulled his hand away from the vine anyway. The blue Lapinian had sounded serious.

Whatever the Lapinian was holding he set down before turning around to face Fredric. "This is why," he said much too happily, picking up a thick branch and bounding over to Fredric and the vine. Swiftly, he moved the branch so that the vine was pressing against its center on the side Fredric was on, his hand hands holding the branch by its top and bottom.

Bandi began pulling on the branch and Alfred watched as the vine began cutting _through_ it, and within a few seconds the branch was sawn clean in half; the vine didn't seem to have suffered at all. Fredric had no idea how that was possible but he didn't even have to ask. Bandi was more than happy to offer the information, it seemed.

"The vine has these really sharp ridges," the Rabbit explained, holding the two halves of the branch up for him to see. "The cut's a little rough because of it, but it cuts _really_ easily, and it's _really_ strong. Strong enough to cut bone, even."

 _Strong enough to cut bone?_ That seemed like a really strange thing to say and Fredric frowned- just how did the Lapinian determine that? However, he decided to ignore that for the moment. Instead, he said, "You need to come back to camp, it's getting late and the temperature is falling."

Bandi frowned and glanced aside, back towards whatever he had been doing. Fredric allowed his gaze to follow Bandi's and noticed a strip of vine tied between two smaller branches, which were in turn tied together using some other, root-like vine. The branches were carved and somewhat shaped, but it was crude at best.

 _Crude, but makes for a functional saw._

"I'm not done yet," the Rabbit finally said, looking back at him. "I need to do more tests and see how to best..."

Whatever the Rabbit was saying was lost on Fredric as his gaze drifted to Bandi's hands.

They were _covered_ in red- dried blood, he realized. The red stood out like a sore thumb against his bright blue fur, and as Bandi let the branch pieces fall to the ground- whatever he was about to use his hands for, Fredric didn't know- he could clearly see his left hand had been sliced completely open and both hands were covered in cuts and gashes of varying severities. They seemed to have stopped bleeding already, but that didn't really matter at the moment; Fredric was wondering how the _hell_ Bandi hadn't collapsed from either pain or blood loss.

He reached forward and grabbed Bandi's left wrist, pulling his hand closer to inspect, brow furrowed. The rabbit hadn't taken good care of it at all; he could see dirt and even a blade of grass in the gash. _If that doesn't get infected, I'll be surprised_ , he thought, frowning and looking back at Bandi for explanation.

The Rabbit blinked at him and glanced at his hand. Then he smiled and said, "Oh, that? I found the vines after getting my hand caught in them. I tried to pull away, but the ridges got me. It'll be fine, though."

"Fine?" Fredric parroted, glancing at his hands again. "This is _not_ alright, Bandi. Your hands are completely torn up, how are you even _using_ them in this state? You need medical attention _immediately._ "

"You're making something out of nothing," Bandi dismissed, tugging his hand away with a roll of his eyes.

Fredric frowned and watched him closely, noting the way his eyes flicked to the side and he smiled just a bit too widely. His smile was strained and his eyes somewhat unfocused as they looked everywhere except Fredric's eyes.

Had Fredric not been looking so closely at the Rabbit, he would not have even noticed.

 _He's in severe pain_ , he realized, brows raising. _He's smiling and he's in severe pain... I didn't even realize it at first. How did I not realize it?_

"Come on," he started lowly, sternly. "I don't care about your opinions on pain, but your hands need to be taken care of. You're likely to get an infection this way. Mangle and Chica found a stream earlier, let's at least try to clean these."

"Streams have bacteria too," Bandi pointed out with a strange wave of the hand and a sigh, but he ducked under the vine to follow the Bear anyway.

"Well, it's better than dirt," Fredric sighed, turning around and heading back the direction he came. "You shouldn't have continued handling that vine without proper protection for your hands. We don't have any medical supplies."

"I'll be fine," was Bandi's simple, careless answer. _How can he be so nonchalant about this? Doesn't he realize he could lose the use of his hands?_

He sighed yet again and stopped by the stream, turning around to face his Lapinian companion. "Sit," he commanded, and after a few moments of silence, the Rabbit did as he was told, dropping down the the ground next to the water. Fredric knelt down and quickly ripped a part of his own shirt off, folding it up and dipping it into the stream. "This will undoubtedly sting," he warned, taking hold of the Rabbit's left wrist and beginning to dab carefully at the wounds.

"It doesn't hurt," Bandi stated flatly and Fredric glanced up at him. The Rabbit's expression had gone completely blank and he stared straight ahead. _Clearly it does._

Fredric let out a tired breath and cleaned the blood and dirt away, frowning sharper as the full extent of the damage was revealed. _It's even worse than I thought._ He re-wet the makeshift rag and began cleaning the Rabbit's right hand off, relieved to see that the injuries on this hand were not nearly as bad as on the other. The cuts weren't nearly as deep; clearly the worst of the wounds had come from his hand getting caught.

However, he did notice _something_ was wrong with the Rabbit's right hand, watching as the fur matted and stuck together from the mixture of blood and water.

Underneath the fur and clear against the Rabbit's skin were thin scars, at least a year old if Fredric had to guess. With a sharp frown, he turned the Rabbit's hand over, dropping the makeshift rag to brush the blue fur back to get a clear look at the skin hidden from sight. Even on the back of his hand there were more thin scars, each looking very purposeful and trailing up his fingers and down his wrist in... _patterned lines_. They were very purposeful, very mechanical, and looked like they had been carefully carved into the Rabbit's arm.

It looked _painful._

He found himself following a single scar all the way to the Rabbit's elbow, frown deepening as he realized that they were from a rather "primitive" device- primitive for Lapinia, anyway. Fredric didn't know much about Lapinia, but he _did_ know that they had advanced far beyond the common tools of knives... so just why did the blue Lapinian have scars that clearly came from a knife?

 _Where did you get these?  
_

"Um, excuse me?"

Fredric blinked and looked at the Lapinian, who was watching him with a raised brow. "I know I have fabulously lush fur," Bandi started, and Fredric realized quickly that he was making a joke of the notably awkward motion, "but you shouldn't play with a stranger's fur."

The Bear was silent for a few moments, studying his blue companion. He thought about asking about the scars... but he didn't. They were none of his business, he knew, and they didn't seem to affect the functionality of the rabbit's hand. They were just _there_.

Instead, he heaved a sigh and released the Rabbit's scarred wrist, ripping off two more strips of his shirt. "Hold your hands out," he commanded and when Bandi did so, he began tightly wrapping the strips of shirt around them and tied them off as makeshift bandages. It wouldn't make for a good long-term solution, but temporarily it would help... He sighed again and looked at the shifting, unfocused green eyes of the pained rabbit. "Really, Bandi, why would you let this happen?"

Bandi glanced back towards him and then towards his hands. It was silent for several seconds before he finally said, "Please don't call me Bandi."

 _...What?_ Fredric blinked owlishly and released the other's hands, letting the Rabbit draw them against his chest in a protective manner. That had been unexpected. "Why not?"

The Rabbit's lips tipped downwards. It wasn't a scowl or even a frown of annoyance, but it wasn't a neutral expression either. Fredric watched as the Rabbit's ears suddenly dropped down and he glanced aside, his brows drawn together. He was the picture of uncertainty- nothing at all like Fredric had been taught to expect from the advanced, strong-willed Lapinians.

It looked vulnerable, actually. Very vulnerable.

"Bandi..." the Rabbit started, glancing up at the Bear again. "Bandi... is the name my parents gave me, but it's... not... _me._ " He hesitated, his gaze going down to his bandaged hands. They had begun to bleed again, staining the makeshift bandage red. "Bandi Cator is just... a... a science student who... happens to be the... son of the highest military officer on the planet. Bandi Cator is just some... genius with no life to call his own... who could tell you every mathematical and scientific formula that exists..." He glanced back up at Fredric, his eyes unsure. Fredric watched him quietly, allowing the Rabbit to say his piece; he was willing to hear him out. "I'm not... _really_ Bandi Cator. Bandi is just some... mask I have to wear. For my own safety. To please my parents. But... I'm... I don't _feel_ like Bandi Cator."

Fredric tilted his head slightly at the Rabbit, his own expression gentle and non-judgmental. _I understand..._ "Then who are you?" he asked, voice soft, inviting. It seemed to work as the Rabbit in front of him relaxed somewhat.

"I... don't know," the Rabbit admitted, eyes trailing back towards the ground as he began rubbing his right wrist absently, not even noticing the blood seeping through the bandage and clinging to his fur. "I was... never really given a... chance to find out." He hesitated for a moment again, his bandaged hands fidgeting nervously. Clearly he had never spoken about this before- he probably had no idea _how_ to speak about it. "But... um... when I... play... my Chaska... I kind of... think of myself as... just... Blu. Not... Bandi or Bandi Cator... just... just _Blu_."

 _Blu._ It sounded like a colour- the colour of the Rabbit's fur, he noted- but at the same time he didn't think that was how the Rabbit meant it. After all, before that day, the word "blue" meant nothing to either of them.

He tilted his head slightly, watching the Rabbit curiously. "What does... Blu... mean in your language?" he asked, keeping his voice as gentle as possible so as not to startle or intimidate the Rabbit back into his guise of indifference.

The Rabbit- Bandi? Blu?- looked back at him. He seemed to be debating on whether or not to answer. Fredric waited patiently, keeping eye contact with the blue-furred Animal. The silence settling around them was deafening, only the sound of the stream next to them breaking through.

Finally, when Fredric was convinced that the Rabbit was about to shut him out, he answered softly, "Hope."

 _Hope._ Such a simple word, yet it said so much about the Rabbit in front of him. It said a lot more than he was sure the Rabbit wanted to show, more than he _meant_ to show- more than he even knew it showed.

 _Bandi Cator is hopeless._

That was what it meant. The Rabbit in front of him was suffering on so much more than a physical level but he didn't want to say it- probably didn't even _know_ it. It still manifested itself, though; his subconsciously-chosen name was everything he himself wanted to, but could not, be.

Fredric let out a soft sigh and gave him a gentle, understanding smile. "Well, then, how about I just call you Blu then?" he suggested. "It's a nicer name than Bandi anyway."

The smile that the Rabbit- Blu- gave him was a genuine smile, the first real one Fredric had seen thus far. It was bright and warm and grateful, and the uncertainty and worry shadowing his face slipped away. The Bear had thought it was bright out before but the sunlight couldn't even compare to Blu's smile. "Thanks, Fredric."

The Bear chuckled as he stood up. "Well, I actually don't go by Fredric," he admitted to the Rabbit, helping the Rabbit to stand up as well.

Blu blinked at him and tilted his head slightly, a curious light in his eyes. "You don't?"

"Nope," he confirmed, heading back towards the camp. The air was still heavy, but the temperature was significantly cooler than before. Sleeping directly on the ground was completely out of the question. "I actually go by Red."

Blu raised a brow and gave him a small, sincere grin. "Aw, is that a play off of the colour red?" he teased, despite both of them knowing it wasn't. Fredric chuckled.

"Not at all," he answered honestly, despite it being a joke. "Not any more than your name being a play off of the colour blue."

"So what's that mean in _your_ language?" Blu asked, his tone a little more serious and genuinely curious. "'Blu' means 'hope' in mine… so what's 'red' mean in yours?"

"It doesn't exactly have a translation," he admitted, trying to think of a way to explain it. He glanced up at the canopy above as he led the smaller Animal. "It's more of an... idea. It's like... freedom, but it's not the _word_ freedom?"

"Like... a feeling?" Blu guessed, tilting his head slightly as if trying to understand.

"Yes," the Bear, Red, confirmed with a nod. _Feeling is a good word for it._ "It's the feeling of freedom, or the feeling of not being controlled or confined. Something along those lines."

"I've never felt that," Blu mumbled to himself, but Red still caught it. He didn't get a chance to ask, though, as the Rabbit quickly continued speaking, as if sensing the Bear's oncoming question. "So, Red and Blu, huh? Wonder if we can make a rainbow," Blu added jokingly, earning a snort from Red.

He'd let it go for now. After all, it probably wasn't something Blu would want to share with a near stranger.

"Wouldn't that be interesting," he agreed instead. It was rather interesting- He hadn't expected the Lapinian to have a sense of humour, if he was honest with himself. _He seems a lot more chatty than I first thought. Really friendly, even._

However, Blu fell silent as they approached their makeshift campsite. Red glanced over at him and frowned as he noticed Blu's amused smile and pain-dazed eyes were replaced with a perfectly neutral expression. He wore neither a smile nor a frown and his green eyes, after seeing them shining so brightly the past few minutes, looked so dull and dead as they entered the others' presence. It was the expression the Rabbit had been wearing when he first saw him, he realized. It was his disguise.

 _Back to being Bandi already, huh?_ He didn't voice it though, just allowed the Rabbit to pick a spot (he noticed it was as far away from the Lacatran Rabbits as he could get and still be within the "safe zone" of their camp and shelter). He started to follow, deciding he didn't fancy leaving the little blue Rabbit alone now that he knew... _something_ was up.

"Fredric," he heard a soft voice call, and pausing, he turned to look at the other two Bears, both of whom were wearing frowns as they watched him. Red approached them and sat down in the spot Freddy gestured to; a little distance between him and the brothers but close enough for a friendly, but private, conversation.

"Yes?" he asked simply, deciding he didn't really _need_ to say more.

"That took a while," Goldie was the one to say, frowning slightly as he watched the Rabbit settle down, off on his own.

Red considered just dismissing it, but the way Freddy was fidgeting told him that the Bears were legitimately concerned about the Lapinian. Obviously they had noticed something wasn't right as well, and they had probably already noticed the "bandages" on his hands. In fact, Red would be surprised if they _hadn't_ noticed them. Both of the older Bears were very observant, he had already figured that out.

"He injured himself," he told them quietly, not wanting the Lacatran Rabbits to overhear. Who knew what _they_ would say about it. "Somewhat on accident."

"Somewhat?" Freddy raised a brow at that. Clearly he was concerned about the use of the word _somewhat._

"He got caught up in an idea," Red explained vaguely before expanding with, "He found a vine by accident that sliced his hand, and he seems to have started making a tool out of it. He was… really caught up that he didn't take care to protect his hands from it."

This didn't seem to comfort either of the brothers as they exchanged a wary glance. "Does he have no regard for his own safety?"

Those scars flashed through Red's mind, but he pushed the images aside. He hadn't even asked Blu about those, there was no way to know if they were self-inflicted or not. In fact, he actually doubted they were; the hand that carved them was too steady, too neat, to have been in pain. "It doesn't seem like it. He didn't seem to have any plans to take care of his injuries, kept insisting he was alright when clearly he wasn't. He was smiling, actually."

A frown tugged at the darker Bear's lips. "Ah… typical Lapinian philosophy," he murmured.

"Pain isn't real, it's only in the mind," Goldie sighed, shaking his head. "Out here that philosophy will get him killed."

"The Lacatrans would be more than happy to oblige," Red muttered, ignoring the displeased look Freddy gave him. _It's only the truth._ "I'll keep an eye on him," he decided, turning his gaze towards the Rabbit in question. "He seems strangely at ease around me. Perhaps it's because I attended to his wounds and was willing to hear him out."

"Whatever it is, he took to you quickly," Goldie noted with a slight lift of his shoulders. Red wasn't familiar with this gesture so he assumed it was something that had recently developed on the Ursian home planet. "I guess that's a good thing, though, huh?"

"Perhaps," Freddy agreed with a slight nod of his own. "The two of you are about the same age, even… so maybe that helps. It strengthens a feeling of camaraderie."

 _I'm not so sure about that_ , Red thought to himself as he nodded politely to the Ursians and stood up to go take a seat next to Blu. _I don't think he knows what normal teenagers are supposed to act like. Certainly not like either of us._

He kept his thoughts to himself as he sat down next to the Lapinian. "Hey, Blu," he greeted casually, feeling slightly victorious when the Rabbit awarded him a small, but genuine, smile.

"Hey, Red," he replied quietly, but they didn't speak again. Instead, they sat in silence and listened to the soft chatter around them as the others all got to know one another. The air was tense and everyone was wary at best, but friendly enough to get along. Red didn't fail to notice most of them were staying close to their own kind, though Chii and Chica seemed to get along very well with Mangle. It seemed like he and Blu were the odd ones out. Somehow he wasn't surprised.

Red pretended he didn't notice the way the Lacatrans looked at the two of them- at _him_. It was _their_ problem, not his after all. They could continue pretending that they weren't just like Blu, but Red... well, Red recognized that down inside they were all the same. They all bled crimson.

As darkness fell around them, the only source of light and warmth was the fire and the makeshift grassy "carpet" beneath them. Staring into the orange flames, he was suddenly reminded of a night long ago, when he was barely eight... It had been night, and nights on Ardraw were... _deadly,_ to say the least, and the fire was the only protection they had from the night. It was... eerily similar, he realized.

The chill in the air at that moment, hardly minutes after the sun had set, reminded him of Ardraw. He didn't want to know what _this_ planet was like during its colder season, if it had one. If it was anything like Ardraw, they would never survive.

He closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh, ears lowering slightly at the somber thought.

 _Hope, huh? Well, Blu, I hope you have enough to share..._


	4. Seeking Answers

**A/N:** These chapters were originally going to introduce a secondary conflict, but I felt like it was too soon. I looked back at my outline and realized the part I was writing was more fit for later, after a certain different event happens and there's less hostility between the Rabbits.

 **WARNING** : There is a moment of self-harm in this chapter- completely intentional "I need to feel alive" self-harm, not the "how dangerous is this thing I need to find out" kind from the previous chapters.

* * *

"Blu, don't just pick up soil like that, who knows what's in it."

Blinking, the blue Rabbit looked up from the soil and glanced over towards his companion. "Relax, Red, I'm not even holding it with my hands," Blu informed him, turning to look at his... friend? He wasn't sure if that was what the Bear was to him, but since waking up that morning they had stuck together, choosing to do their part of the exploring with each other. Part of him was convinced it was just because Red was concerned about him.

"The cloth serving as your bandage does not count," Red deadpanned, quirking a brow at him. "Why are you looking at the soil anyway?"

Blu's ear twitched in the direction of a snapping twig and a muttering voice, but he ignored the twin Bears who had chosen to follow them. He wasn't surprised one bit that Freddy and Goldie didn't trust him and Red out on their own. Instead, he focused on Red and gave him his best grin, holding the soil up.

"Look at it," he commanded. The Bear eyed him warily before looking at the dark pile of soil in Blu's hands. It was soft and sifted around with the slightest movement, so Blu strived to keep his hands perfectly still as the Bear observed the sample.

"It… looks strange?" Red questioned, looking back at Blu. The Rabbit let out a small laugh because it was true; the soil was nearly black and lacked any decay from leaves or grass.

"Well yeah, I can't deny that," he agreed, stepping closer to his companion, "but actually _look_ at it."

He watched as the younger Bear looked at the soil again. Several seconds passed by before he noticed it, his blue eyes widening slightly as he realized what Blu wanted him to see. Blu grinned. "There's… something _alive_ in it," he noted, surprise lacing his voice as he looked up at the Rabbit again. It was the first sign of non-flora life they had seen thus far; small, dark, and digging carefully through the soil in Blu's hands, most likely seeking out its scant breakfast.

"Yes," Blu confirmed, nodding. "It's a detritivore. The branches that fall, I guess it feeds off of the rot. But they aren't _everywhere..._ it's kind of strange, isn't it?" As he spoke, he knelt down to set the soil, along with its resident lifeform, back down on the ground. "And if there are detritivores here, then I wonder what else is..."

"What else?" Red repeated, prompting Blu to look up at him.

"Yes," Blu nodded, standing up again and patting his hands off on his pants. The soil had left clear marks on the knees and shins, but to be honest he couldn't be bothered to care; he thought it was kind of cool. It was a new experience. "There's foliage, grass, and even a meat-source, no matter how small it might be, so logically speaking there should be _some_ sort of system here."

"Oh," Red sighed, nodding in understanding. "You're right, there's enough nutrients here to support an entire web... You'd think there'd at least be small carnivores and grazers feeding off of the, uh... detritivores and grass."

"Exactly. But..." Blu frowned in thought, glancing up towards the canopy, "we don't actually know if there's no other fauna. For all we know..."

He trailed off, the incomplete thought hanging between the two of them as they both looked above.

"We should probably be more careful then," Red sighed, looking down towards the soil again. "And it definitely means we need to set up some sort of _safe_ shelter. With walls and a roof, if possible."

"So far there's no signs of larger fauna, but better safe than sorry yes," Blu agreed, turning to look at the approaching twins.

"What's better safe than sorry?" Goldie asked, raising a brow. Clearly neither of the elder Bears had been listening to their conversation.

"Blu discovered detritivores," Red answered before Blu could even open his mouth. "We were saying it's better safe than sorry to prepare in case larger fauna are around somewhere."

The edges of Freddy's lips turned down as he hummed in thought. "Well, I suppose that means it's best to not go running off on our own."

Red nodded in agreement and Blu sighed, averting his gaze as the younger Bear's blue eyes landed on him. "Right, Blu?"

"Yes, I get it, no running off on my own again."

The Rabbit felt like a chastised child, but at least none of the Bears were yelling at him or threatening him with camps. Or sliding a knife across his shoulderblades. Or-

He cut himself off. _Just don't think about it, Blu. You're far away from Lapinia now. From them. Wait... Wasn't there something important...? Oh..._

"Oh no," he moaned, slipping his hands over his eyes. _I completely forgot, that's why mother took my Chaska away- I was supposed to be studying before I woke up here!_

"What?"

"I had an exam today..."

The three Bears were completely silent and Blu knew they were staring at him without even dropping his hands. He could practically _feel_ their eyes on him.

"Wait- we're trapped on a planet none of us know... and you're concerned about missing an exam?" the golden Bear asked incredulously. Blu could have sworn he heard a hint of a laugh in his voice. It wasn't very funny to the Rabbit.

"It's not the _exam_ that's got me worried," he muttered, dropping his hands away from his face and looking at the Bears. "I still live with my parents, they're gonna notice I didn't go to school. When we get out of here and I get home I'm gonna be in _so_ much trouble..." because on Lapinia, there was no such thing as a retest. He would get a fail on the exam and his parents would _never_ forgive him.

 _And the Matching's next month- oh no, my parents will_ kill _me if I miss that...!_

"I... hadn't even thought about my parents," Red admitted, his voice laced with a strange emotion that Blu couldn't identify. "They'll panic when they realize I'm gone. Ardraw isn't... safe."

That was putting it lightly; MB27X was well known to be one of the deadliest inhabited planets, but its resources were valuable and the colonists had been living there for generations. They belonged to the planet and vice versa; there was no chance that the colonists would leave the planet which had become their home, freezing nights and sweltering days included.

Blu knew as long as Ardraw was "primitive," as his parents put it, they would only ever be a colony; they relied too heavily on Ursius for their survival. Unlike Alpha C 301, though, the Ardraw colonists seemed content with the arrangement. _Maybe because they aren't living completely separated from and subjugated by the Ursians._

"Dad's gonna be pissed that we disappeared," Goldie muttered, more to Freddy than the younger teens. "And mom will worry..."

"We'll explain to them what happened," Freddy assured his brother, frowning as he thought about it. "Now that I really think about it, we'll be missing our last year of education if we're here for too long."

"I guess we'll just need to figure out what's going on and find out how to get home," Red sighed, glancing over at Blu. "However, none of us even know where we are."

"Well," Blu started thoughtfully, glancing towards the canopy, "maybe we can figure it out if we look at the stars. Maybe we'll recognize something... my dad had me study three different astronomies, so... I might be able to recognize something."

"Three different astronomies?" he heard the golden bear whisper questioningly to his darker-furred brother, but Blu couldn't be bothered to explain. The Ursians had yet to discover the other layers of the universe, after all, and the Lapinians had yet to share the information with them.

"It'd be worth a shot," Red started, "if nights weren't so cold and you could actually climb a tree."

"I can climb," Blu immediately protested, frowning and crossing his arms. "Come on, I climb all the time- I have to be able to reach weird locations, you know."

"I was actually talking about your hands," Red informed him flatly, gesturing towards them as he spoke. "Climbing will only aggravate the wounds."

"Oh. Right." The Rabbit let his hands fall back to his side. "Sorry, I shouldn't assume things."

"You seem quick to assume an insult," Freddy started. Something in his voice got Blu's attention... he felt almost like he was about to be interrogated. He tensed up slightly and frowned, glancing towards the older Bear. Freddy was watching him, an unfamiliar glint in his eyes. "Why is that?"

 _Because my parents find fault in everything I do?_

"Oh, no reason," Blu answered dismissively, glancing up towards the canopy. He needed to change the subject. "We should go back now, shouldn't we? See what the others were able to fi-"

"-Spring is _younger_ than me actually, don't let what just happened fool you."

"He always points that out. I think he's insecure about it."

Blu closed his eyes and let out a breath as the Lacatran Rabbits and the two Humans walked into the area he and the Bears stood in. "Wonderful," he muttered bitterly, more to himself than the Bears.

He didn't like the colonists- not because they were colonists, of course. He couldn't care less about that part, if he was honest; as far as he was concerned, Lapinia should just let that colony go. The Rabbits of Alpha C 301 had gone in a completely different direction than Lapinia and had been self-sufficient for hundreds of years already, and even though their ancestors were from Blu's planet, Blu knew the Lacatrans would never be Lapinians. There was just too much bloody history between the planets.

No, Blu didn't like the Lacatran Rabbits because they _scared_ him, and he had never feared anything but authority. He _hated_ that those two Rabbits elicited the same reaction from him that his parents and government and teachers did- that they were to be _feared_.

If something was to be feared then it was to be obeyed... and like _hell_ would Blu obey a pair of Rabbit brothers from an entirely different _galaxy,_ even if they could snap him like a twig without even trying. He'd _die_ before he let either of them have authority over him. That meant showing no fear.

As if he would in the first place.

"Oh great," one of the voices groused. He wasn't sure _which_ brother it was but he didn't care to find out. Before the voice could continue, though, Freddy spoke up.

"Bonnie, Spring, Mike, Jeremy," Freddy greeted politely, his voice lighter. Blu was somewhat happy to realize that the Bear wouldn't keep questioning him. "We were just about to head back to camp, meet up with the Foxes and Chickens and get to work."

"What did you guys find?" Mike asked curiously, carrying a makeshift bucket in his hands. He had something hanging out of his right ear, but Blu couldn't identify what it was.

"Some sturdy wood," Goldie answered with a lift of his shoulders. "We have no idea how long we'll be here, so it'll be best to make some sort of proper shelter."

"We also have no idea about the weather," Red put in with a thoughtful frown. "The air is heavy and humid but the nights are cold."

"Kind of like Ardraw," Freddy noted, raising a brow at Red. "Isn't it?"

"Thankfully not that bad," Red snorted. "We also found, um... what were they called, Blu?" he asked, looking at the Rabbit in question. "Detri...?"

"Detritivores," Blu answered. "I don't know what else they'd be called."

The Lacatran Rabbits exchanged confused looks but the Humans seemed to understand. "So there _is_ fauna here?" the lighter-haired Jeremy questioned.

"Some type, yeah," Blu confirmed, crossing his arms. He could feel the Bears looking at him; apparently his shift in attitude was noticed. "But it's just small lifeforms, nothing big that we know of."

"Your point?" Bonnie asked, his voice giving off his annoyance. Clearly he thought whatever the blue Rabbit was saying was pointless.

Blu resisted the urge to roll his eyes, instead leveling the taller Rabbit with his best unimpressed look. "My _point_ is that we don't know what's on this planet."

"We've been here an entire day already-"

"No, we've been here an entire night and _part_ of a day," Blu corrected hotly before schooling himself again. _Don't let your agitation show._ Calmly, he continued, "We haven't had time to actually observe-"

"This isn't some scientific experiment to _observe_ , Lapinian," Bonnie snarled, glaring at Blu as he shifted the weight of the "bucket" in his arms. "This-"

"If we don't understand our surroundings then-"

"You don't have to understand _anything_ to know something's true-"

"We don't _know_ if it's true," Blu pointed out with a small growl, unable to hide his annoyance with the older Rabbit. " _Anything_ could be on this planet and we're-"

"What?" Bonnie snorted. Blu was getting really aggravated at being interrupted; he could feel the scowl forming on his own face, breaking his neutrality. "The little Lapinian afraid the lionwolves are gonna get him?" It was mocking and it was only making the air around them tense, but Blu refused to back down.

 _You cannot have power over me,_ he thought angrily as he said, "Lionwolves don't live in this environment so _obviously_ not, I'm just-"

"Shut _up,_ both of you," Red interrupted, his voice a little louder than he usually spoke which prompted Blu to actually stop speaking and look at his companion. The Bear was scowling at them, blue eyes narrowed. He was clearly agitated by the Rabbits' little fight. "You're arguing about _nothing_ and it's extremely counterproductive and _very_ annoying, too."

Without missing a beat, Bonnie stated flatly, "It'd be easier to _not_ argue if the Lapinian wasn't _constantly_ looking for a 'logical' side of things like a fucking _robot_. Just accept things as they are and _stop questioning everything!_ "

 _"You must question everything. Take nothing at face value..."_

His mother's words from so long ago flashed through his mind and he stared blankly at the Lacatran, trying desperately to figure his words out. They were the exact opposite of how he was raised. _Don't question everything? Accept things as they are? How do you even_ do _that? If you don't understand, you put yourself in danger..._

"Stop it, Bonnie," Freddy commanded, clearly displeased with the other Rabbit, but Blu had ceased to care at that point.

 _"Like a robot." Isn't that so fitting... I did score perfect on the Endurance test... didn't react at all..._

His right hand suddenly curled into a fist, sending pain up and down his arm. He didn't really feel it, though; he felt numb. _Why?_ He could see the purple and gold Rabbits arguing with the twin Bears and Red, but he couldn't hear what they were saying anymore.

 _"Like a robot." Didn't I say the exact same thing last year? How does a Lacatran even know about robots, anyway? What right does he have to... to just say..._

"Bandi?" The voice was soft, gentle, and it startled Blu out of his thoughts. He turned his emerald eyes to the shorter Humans. He hadn't even noticed until that moment that they were shorter than him... it was by less than a foot, sure, but he was still-

"Are you alright?" Jeremy asked, concern lacing his voice as he pulled the Rabbit out of his thoughts. Blu blinked as the argument suddenly filled his ears.

"Dammit, Rabbit, you don't need to-"

"Just stay out of it, Ursian, you don't even know-"

"Stop blaming him for things he had nothing to do with-"

"No, I'm not," he answered simply, quietly, tearing his gaze away from the concerned Humans. "I need to be alone."

"Wait, Bandi-" Mike started, but Blu turned and walked away, ignoring the Human's call. As he got further away, the argument faded and so did the Humans' concerned voices. The Rabbit didn't wonder why they didn't follow; the Humans didn't seem very adept at the whole "survival" thing either.

Blu wasn't the best with directions, but he knew where he was in relation to the camp- he had no fear of getting lost.

And if he did, then so what? He'd spend a night on his own and either be found the next day or die. At that point, he couldn't care which it was.

 _You're a Lapinian. Lapinians don't let stupid comments get to them. But... I just don't get it. He called me a robot... just for trying to understand what's going on. What's so wrong about that? Or is he just annoyed because I'm Lapinian...?_

He moved swiftly, silently. It was different from the day before, where he ranted aloud and hit the surrounding branches. He stewed silently in his thoughts as he walked, stepping carefully over branches and roots. The forest was completely silent around him.

If there were any animals, Blu couldn't hear them. If there was anything alive, he couldn't feel them. The forest felt empty- it felt dead. He felt alone... but that was a familiar feeling for him.

He slowed down to a stop as he came across a familiar location. Strung up between two trees was the cutting vine, and on the other side he could see his incomplete saw just sitting there, waiting to be finished. With a soft sigh, Blu lifted his bandaged hands to look at them.

 _That vine will tear my hands up,_ he noted miserably. "I can't finish it right now," he told himself aloud, staring at his hands. The "bandages" were dirtied from holding the soil, but he could still see the red staining them.

The wounds underneath still stung. It was sharp and jarring, he remembered, when the vine had sliced through his hands. It had been a pain that he couldn't ignore.

 _Pain._ It had been such a large part of his life for so long... but _that_ pain had been agonizing. It had been unlike anything he had ever felt- like fire right in the palm of his hand. At the time it had been bothersome. Well... more than just _bothersome_.

Still, though... still, he had been able to smile through it. He had been able to take it and tolerate it, despite how it sent agony screaming up his arms and caused so much _blood_ to spill. He had still fooled Red, right up until he saw the wounds himself. He had still managed to play it off. To normalize it.

 _I wonder... how much it would take before I feel alive again?_

It was a sudden, almost confusing thought. Pain- or, rather, ignoring pain- was such a normal part of his life, but he had never been the cause of the pain... not on purpose, anyway. He had never even considered it before; what was the point if it wasn't real? Easy; there wasn't. If it wasn't real, then why even try? He could ignore it all.

But how much pain was _too much_ to ignore? How much would it take before he reacted like a _normal_ person- not a Lapinian, but... anyone sane and _not_ desensitized?

He wanted to know.

 _It's like an experiment... how much pain can the Lapinian take..._ Slowly, he unwrapped the makeshift bandages from around his hands and let them fall to the ground. The wounds on his hands didn't look very good and his fur was stiff with dried blood. _I need to clean them, anyway._

He raised his gaze to the vine strung up between the trees. If he looked carefully, he could see red from where he had accidentally nicked himself the day before. _It cuts so easily... I have to be careful..._

If Red was there, he knew he'd be getting a lecture at that moment for even _acting_ this way. No one was there, though; no one to see him, to judge him, to lecture him... to hate him for being so... so... he didn't even know. _So Lapinian? So non-Lapinian? It's all about perspective in the end._

The blue Rabbit stepped closer to the vine and he reached out with his right, less-injured hand, positioning the vine right under the base of his fingers. After a few seconds of pondering it, though, he shifted so that instead of his hand, it was under his forearm. There was only so much he could risk with his hand, after all.

He still wanted to be able to play his Chaska.

Slowly, he began applying pressure, not even wincing as the vine once again cut through his fur and then his flesh. He paused, watching the blood drip down; it was stinging, but it wasn't the same burning agony he had felt before. He pressed down harder, biting his tongue as it so easily cut through his skin, but _it still isn't unbearable._

It wasn't enough. Steeling his resolve, he started to apply even _more_ pressure, determined to feel that burning, unbearable pain that had made him feel less robotic, more living, more... more...

Then a purple-furred hand clamped firmly around his wrist.

"What the _fuck_ are you doing?!"


	5. Troubling

**A/N** : I would have updated this sooner but I problems arose, sorry.

* * *

"Bonnie, I swear, if you do not go _right now,_ I'll throw you out of a tree myself," Freddy had growled to him moments after Mike had, uneasily, informed them that the Lapinian had just _walked off-_ despite the fact that _separating_ had already been established as being a bad idea. Bonnie snarled as the brown Bear's hand landed on the smallest Bear's shoulder, preventing him from following the other Rabbit. _"Go."_

"Why?" he demanded hotly, shoving his bucket towards his fellow Lacatran. Spring promptly dropped the branches he was holding in order to catch the bucket, as Bonnie didn't bother waiting to see if his brother actually had a hold of it before letting go. "He's just a useless _Lapinian_."

"Because you're being an asshole," Freddy growled, his stare unwavering. "You can't blame a _kid_ for something his _father_ did."

"He's a Lapinian, he's not a _kid_ ," Bonnie snorted, crossing his arms. "Everyone knows-"

"I don't _care_ about Lapinian standards, Rabbit," Freddy cut him off as calmly as he could. "I don't know what goes on on that planet and neither do you, but it's no secret they have toxic ideologies." Freddy leaned closer to Bonnie, as if to tell him something no one else was supposed to hear, and added, "And frankly speaking, I already don't trust that kid out on his own. We're in a place that _none_ of us know, _he's_ not adapted to, where _anything_ could be lurking around the corner, _our_ rules don't apply, and he's just a _teenager_. If anything happens to him because _you're_ being an asshole, then _you're_ to blame." The bear's voice dropped into a growl. "And I don't take kindly to murder."

What could he possibly say to that? The Bear was threatening him... and Bonnie had a feeling that Freddy would not hesitate to deliver on the threat.

The Rabbit scowled. "Fine," he spat, backing away from the Bear. He himself was a colonist and the Bear was an Ursian, but Ursius for all of its scientific advancement was still a force to be reckoned with head-on. It would be best to _not_ risk the Bear's anger- that might be a fight Bonnie can't win.

"Good," Freddy spoke pleasantly, straightening up. "Now _go._ "

Bonnie made his displeasure clear as he glared at Freddy, then he turned and angrily walked in the direction Mike had gestured in.

"Let him go alone, Spring."

 _Great, and now they're separating me from my brother. Wonderful._

He growled and angrily kicked at the ground, wincing slightly as his bare foot smacked against a tree root. "Damn Bear," he muttered, red eyes on the ground in front of him.

Evidently the Lapinian hadn't been concerned whatsoever with covering his tracks; his footprints were clear in the strange soil, even through the layer of grass. It didn't take any tracking skills whatsoever to follow.

"Damn Lapinian," he added bitterly, glaring up ahead. "Spoiled, ungrateful little-"

He stumbled over a root and hissed to himself. _Pay attention, Bonnie._ He took a deep, calming breath in through his nose and let it out, shoving his anger aside. _It'll do no good to trip and break your neck._ His ear twitched as he heard something from up ahead. It sounded like a voice, though he couldn't make out the words from that distance. _The Lapinian. I'll drag his ass back to camp and let the Bears dress him down or whatever._

With that in mind, Bonnie continued walking ahead, following the footsteps. It didn't take long to find his quarry; the blue Rabbit came into view and Bonnie paused, raising a brow at the scene before him.

 _He's just standing there, doing nothing._

The smaller blue Rabbit was just staring at his bandaged hands. Bonnie wasn't sure exactly _why_ the Rabbit's hands were bandaged but he couldn't be bothered to care. He opened his mouth, about to bark out a command to the Lapinian, but his voice died as the Rabbit jerked into action and unwrapped the bandages.

Even from that distance, the dried blood was clear and stark against the Rabbit's bright blue fur.

As the makeshift bandages fell to the ground, the Lapinian stepped closer to the vine strung up between two trees. Bonnie furrowed his brow, scowling in confusion. He was hesitant to call out.

 _What is the idiot doing now?_

He watched the Lapinian reach his hand out to the vine. It was odd; he didn't look like he was about to grab it, his fingers straight and splayed as he laid his hand on the vine. Silently, Bonnie started circling around the Rabbit, his eyes trained on the other's hand. A strange feeling twisted in his stomach.

 _What are you doing..._

He watched the Lapinian slide his hand over the vine, his hand curling into a fist as he rested his forearm on it. Bonnie couldn't even begin to comprehend what the Rabbit was trying to do. _Is he trying to break it?_ Then the Lapinian pressed down on the vine. It didn't budge and Bonnie's frown deepened. _For someone always looking for logic and answers he sure doesn't make any damn sense._

Cator's eyes seemed to be trained on his arm. Whatever he was seeing didn't seem to please him as he frowned and added more pressure, his brow creasing in what Bonnie could only describe as frustration. The vine did move somewhat with the added pressure, but it didn't bend far and it definitely didn't seem to be on the verge of-

That was when he saw the blood.

For a moment he was absolutely floored. This was _Bandi Cator,_ son of one of the most powerful and privileged Lapinians on the Lapinian home planet. There was no doubt that everything he wanted, he got. What in the _world_ was he _hurting himself_ for?

 _Hurting himself._ Those words felt heavy, but there was no other way to describe what he was seeing. The Lapinian was _hurting himself_ and he seemed _frustrated_ about something- but still he didn't pull his arm away. In fact, he was adding more pressure, causing the vine to only cut deeper.

 _Is he trying to disable himself or something?!_

Before Bonnie even knew what he was doing, he had bounded over to the Lapinian and grabbed the Rabbit's wrist, preventing him from adding any more pressure.

"What the _fuck_ are you doing?!" he demanded, watching the smaller Rabbit jerk to attention, wide green eyes snapping up to Bonnie's red. He seemed legitimately shocked, as though he hadn't expected anyone to follow and catch him, and it was the first time Bonnie had seen any emotion other than anger or irritation from the Rabbit.

"Wha- let go of me!" the Lapinian's demand was somewhat ruined by the squeak in his voice and the wave of panic in his eyes. However, the Rabbit took in a sudden sharp breath and Bonnie could practically _see_ the walls fly up, pulling all emotion out of those eyes.

Bonnie didn't like this. Suddenly, he could see what the Bears had seen- someone who was a danger to themselves.

"No," he growled, pulling the Lapinian's arm away from the vine. He barely glanced at the deep cut the blue Animal had inflicted upon _himself_. "What the hell is this about, Lapinian?!"

"It's nothing. I was just testing something," the blue Rabbit answered shortly, trying to yank his arm away from Bonnie's grip. It was almost pathetic; Bonnie didn't even need to tighten his grip to keep his hold on the Rabbit's wrist. "Let go of me."

"What were you testing?" he questioned, eyes narrowing. _I don't believe you._

"I-I was just seeing how much pressure it took before the vine would cut," the Rabbit explained calmly, but the initial stutter was all Bonnie needed to know that it was a lie.

"Then you wouldn't have let _this_ happen," he hissed, lifting the Rabbit's arm to emphasize the bleeding cut. "That's too _deep_ to have been testing an _initial_ cut- and don't think I don't see the cuts on your hands. You already knew how much pressure it took, so _stop lying to me._ "

It was almost humorous, he realized, of him to demand the Lapinian to be honest with him. Him, who pretty much said from the beginning that the blue Rabbit would be better off to them all dead.

The Lapinian's eyes narrowed at Bonnie. "It doesn't matter," he stated flatly, but now Bonnie wasn't buying it. The air around them was charged but he was pretty damn sure the negativity wasn't spawned from his _own_ dislike of the other Rabbit.

He stared at the Rabbit, at those dull eyes and the slight furrow in his brow that gave away his unhappiness. He really _looked_ at him for perhaps the first time since they woke up on that planet, looking at how the other Rabbit stared back, eyes cold and dead.

They were nothing at all like what he'd seen two minutes before, when the Lapinian had thought he was alone and before he could really register Bonnie's presence. _It's a guise._

 _But for what?_

Bonnie's eyes flicked over to the cut on the other Rabbit's arm. He wasn't even _trying_ to stop the bleeding, and he clearly didn't care about the dried blood on his palms. The larger male looked back at the younger, frown deepening. The other was tense- very tense- and wasn't backing down, even as he tried, and failed, to pull his arm away from Bonnie's grip.

"Are you depressed?"

It slipped out before he could even think about it. The other Rabbit stilled, eyes widening slightly. It wasn't an _oh shit_ expression- it was more of a _wait, what?_ expression, as though the Rabbit had never even once considered it and had no idea where Bonnie had gotten the idea in the first place.

"What?" the Lapinian laughed uneasily, humorlessly, as he stared at Bonnie. "I'm Lapinian, I have nothing to be depressed about."

That was exactly what Bonnie would have said, but his eyes flicked over to the deep cut on the blue Rabbit's arm once again. He raised a brow at the younger, as if inviting him to explain. The green eyes followed his gaze, a strange look crossing the Rabbit's features.

Realization followed.

"Wha- n-no, you're misunderstanding!" The Lapinian gave him a sudden smile that was _way_ too wide to be even slightly real. "Really, you, uh, you just- I wasn't- it's not what you're thinking-"

"I think it's _exactly_ what I'm thinking." Bonnie scowled at the smaller. "Drop the smile, it's not fooling anyone."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Like hell," Bonnie growled, lifting his arm yet again. "You're an idiot if you think I'm gonna fall for that when you're bleeding from a cut _you made on purpose_."

The blue Rabbit didn't seem to know how to respond. He was silent for several seconds before he repeated, "You're misunderstanding. It's not what you think." Before Bonnie could say anything, he added, "Can you _please_ let go? You're hurting me."

It was bit out, as though it pained him just to admit it. _You're hurting me._

Blinking, Bonnie realized his grip had steadily tightened around the other's wrist. He hadn't even realized how close he was to crushing the other's wrist, and as he did he promptly released him. He watched the other stumble a few steps back, rubbing his wrist with a small frown.

It would bruise, Bonnie knew. _How am I gonna explain that to the protective asshole back at camp?_

The silence between the two Rabbits was tense; Cator wasn't offering an explanation and Bonnie wasn't offering an apology. It stretched on, green eyes watching him warily. Then, without warning, the smaller Rabbit turned and walked out into the trees.

Bonnie blinked, somewhat shocked as he watched the younger walk away. "What the- hey, get back here!" he demanded, hurrying to follow the Rabbit. "Freddy wants you back at camp, you-"

"Stop following me," Cator huffed, glaring over his shoulder at him. "Do you not understand the concept of being _alone?"_

"Oh, yeah, I _totally_ trust you to be out on your own," Bonnie snarked, tossing a gesture back in the direction of the vine. He didn't glance back; he didn't want to see the red still clinging to it. "Weren't you and the others the ones insisting that this place isn't safe, anyway?"

"Whatever, just leave me alone, Lacatran."

"No."

He heard the Rabbit huff in frustration, and then he suddenly took off in a run. Bonnie blinked, more than a little surprised as the Rabbit disappeared from sight, but then he rolled his eyes; he knew he could easily catch up to the other, but what was the point in wasting energy running when he could just follow the other's footprints?

"You are aware that I can track, right?" he called ahead, listening to his voice echo around the trees. There was no response. A glance at the ground as he walked confirmed that the other hadn't bothered to try and cover his tracks yet again. He sighed and followed the footprints.

 _I can't believe this._

He didn't feel guilty, of course; there was nothing _he_ did, Freddy had made sure of that. Besides, someone didn't just _hurt_ themselves because of one person they knew for less than a day. There was no way Bonnie or his brother were the reason for the Rabbit's actions.

 _Then what_ is _his reason? Damn Lapinian..._

His eyes were on his surroundings and the ground, following the rushed footsteps almost leisurely. The Rabbit didn't feel too concerned, as the other didn't seem to have a death wish.

 _Yeah. He just cut himself is all. And could have_ easily _disabled himself, the_ idiot _, what the hell was he thinking..._

Bonnie paused, raising a brow as something _new_ entered his sight. He stopped walking and frowned, peering over the unexpected development. It was a drop-off, about eight feet down. At the bottom of the drop the grass was in disarray, and a glance at Bonnie's own feet showed that grass and dirt had been pulled away to reveal stone.

The Lapinian had slipped and fallen down.

He was silent for a moment before snorting. _Wow, weren't watching where you were going, huh?_ he mused as he knelt down, observing the wall of the drop. It was made of jagged stone that could easily cut flesh if grabbed improperly, but it was climbable. Already Bonnie could see several potential hand and footholds.

However, Bonnie was a Lacatran and he had little patience for climbing down when he already knew how to land safely, so rather than begin a safe climb down he just leapt. When his feet hit the ground, though, grass and dirt was kicked up as his feet went straight through, and he stumbled as his feet hit something very _solid._

Catching himself before he could fall, Bonnie kicked dirt and grass away from his feet. He frowned; hardly three inches of dirt covered stone.

 _Odd,_ he thought to himself, shaking the dirt off of his feet before he started following the footprints again. These were less hurried; the other Rabbit was walking again. _How are these trees growing?_

The trees around him were tall and still, just like the rest of the forest. However, unlike the rest of the forest, many of the trees in the drop were standing but it looked like just as many were toppled or leaning. He eyed the large root systems clinging desperately to the stone under it.

 _Alien planets, don't need to know how they work... but... these things aren't gonna come crashing down on me, are they?_

Pushing the thought aside, he kept following the footprints. The silence echoed all around, and he had the impression that it was mocking him. What about, he wasn't sure, but it just... _felt_ that way.

Soon enough, he found himself in a clearing. In the center was a... pond? Bonnie wasn't sure, it was rather small and contained with no streams entering or exiting. It didn't concern him, though; standing at the edge, staring thoughtfully into the water, was the Rabbit he had been sent to retrieve.

His stomach twisted at the sight of the blood against the blue fur; the Lapinian hadn't even attempted to take care of it.

Bonnie approached the younger Rabbit, not making any effort to be quiet, but the other didn't give any sign of hearing him anyay. "What are you thinking?" he asked casually, glancing towards the water. He got no answer. "Hey," he started, somewhat irritated at being ignored. Still Cator didn't respond. "Hey, are you deaf?" he huffed, reaching out to grab the other's shoulder. "What are you-"

The moment his fingers touched the blue Rabbit's shoulder, Cator yelped and jumped, clearly startled as he whirled around and lost his balance. Instinctively, Bonnie grabbed his shirt and pulled him away from the pond, scowling.

"Jumpy," he muttered, releasing the blue Rabbit's shirt. "What the hell?"

"Don't sneak up on people!" Cator immediately huffed, sidestepping around Bonnie to walk around the pond. Bonnie briefly glanced at the water. It was clear at the top but seemed to become murky several feet down; he was unable to see the bottom. "Damn Rabbit..."

"What were you thinking?" Bonnie repeated, tearing his eyes away from the pond and following Cator.

"You wouldn't care, I was just looking for a _logical_ explanation," the blue Rabbit muttered, prompting Bonnie to roll his eyes.

"Answer me."

"I _did_ answer you."

"No you didn't," Bonnie growled, following the Rabbit out of the clearing. "What are you thinking?"

There was a moment of silence before Cator bitterly stated, "This place is scientifically incorrect."

Those words only worked to irritate Bonnie further. _Should have figured it was about that. Damn Lapinian._ When he spoke, however, Bonnie pushed as much _told you so_ as possible into his voice; "Then just stop looking for scientific explanations. If there's none, just accept it."

"I can't just _stop,_ " Cator growled, pausing to glare back at him. "Being _ignorant_ isn't a good thing."

"Look," Bonnie started, scowling as the Lapinian turned his back again, "knowing something is and accepting it are different from being _ignorant_. Being _ignorant_ is not realizing something is the way it is. This place makes no damn sense but we know it _is_ , so just _stop_." He knew his words fell on deaf ears as the Lapinian suddenly bounded over to a toppled tree. Letting out a breath, Bonnie closed his eyes and ran a hand across his face. _Impossible._

"What are you doing?" he questioned, not even attempting to hide his irritation. "You know tree roots aren't going to answer anything, right?" There was no response.

When he opened his eyes, the blue Rabbit was just staring down at the base of the tree, giving no indication he had heard or understood anything the colonist had said. Bonnie's scowl deepened.

"What are you even looking at?" Bonnie demanded, eyes on the Rabbit. "You-"

"We have to get out of here."

The other's sharp tone actually caused Bonnie to pause. He blinked, watching the way the younger Rabbit tensed, the air around him practically screaming his unease. Slowly, the purple Rabbit began approaching the other. "What?"

"I get why this place is the way it is. We have to get out of here _right now,_ " Cator repeated, turning his gaze up to Bonnie's. The purple Rabbit was struck by how _serious_ the teen looked, his green eyes slightly wide but his brows drawn together. It was clear that the Lapinian had come to a horrible realization... and it deeply concerned him.

Suddenly, Bonnie had a feeling that he should actually _listen_ to the younger.

His eyes trailed down to the base of the tree where Cator had been staring so intently. He expected the hole. What he didn't expect was for it to keep going, down and down until all of the light was gone, leaving nothing but empty blackness and the rhythmic _plink plink_ of dripping water. In the distance there was a crash... the sound of wood hitting stone.

Every instinct was now screaming _get out of here!_ and the Lapinian seemed to agree, his next words tinged with earnest.

"We're standing in a death trap."


	6. Fly, You Fools

A/N: In case you don't know, I typically don't update here until I've updated on AO3... so apologies for the wait!

* * *

When he came to the drop-off, he _had_ attempted to stop. Honestly. However, as he skid, the ground beneath his feet seemed to change and his feet lost their grip, sending him tumbling over the edge. When he hit the ground at the bottom, the wind was knocked out of him and he groaned, opening his eyes to stare at the canopy above.

He was lying on grass, but clearly whatever was under the soil was not soft in the slightest. His back ached, but he was thankful he had landed on his back and not his arm or- worse- his head.

Pushing himself to his feet, the Lapinian took a few breaths and stood up straight, ignoring the ache. Blu's eyes trailed over to the wall of the drop off and instantly he felt relief flood through him.

The jagged stone wall towered over him, but when he was ready he'd be able to climb back up. Undoubtedly it would tear the wounds on his hands open again, but he would deal with that when it came. At the moment he was just glad he hadn't fallen _against_ the jagged wall.

Something about the wall bothered him, though. He looked left and he looked right; the drop off continued, somewhat jaggedly, for as far as he could see. It was like he was standing in a bowl.

 _Don't think about it, Blu,_ he sighed to himself, turning around to face the forest ahead of him. _It's probably nothing._

Silence echoed around him, somehow much, much more... _suffocating_ than in the rest of the forest. Trees towered over him, perfectly still as they reached for the sky above... or towards each other.

His eyes scanned over the sight of fallen and falling trees that were caught by another. _I should go back. Too many trees are downed here, that's a bad sign._

 _Oh, what are you talking about? There's no telling how long ago those fell. Come on, nothing lives here, explore a little._

It was a sudden thought, completely against the nervous, worried twisting in his stomach. He knew he should turn back... but then he reminded himself that he was Lapinian, he shouldn't _feel_ worried or nervous, and if he wanted to get past it he _needed_ to head deeper into the silence... if only to try and figure it out. He glanced back at the stone wall, frowning.

 _Well. It couldn't hurt... if I just go straight, I won't get lost._

With that decided, he continued onwards, ignoring the feeling inside screaming _get out of here._

(If the Rabbit had known what _instinct_ felt like, perhaps he would have turned around. But he didn't.)

As he walked, he watched the way the soil sifted beneath his feet. It looked like the grass alone was keeping it in place; it was a thin layer above a solid foundation. The soft padding of dirt and grass couldn't cover the rough texture under it.

 _Stone,_ he realized, furrowing his brow and glancing up at the trees around. _There's stone under the grass and soil, so... what are the trees rooted to?_

It was unnerving. It didn't make any sense; trees don't grow on stone. There was no wind, so the trees were deathly still. _How is the canopy so thick? These trees can't have the nutrition they need._

 _But... it's an alien planet, I don't know how these trees work._

With that reminder, he continued on. For all he knew, these trees _could_ grow through stone. The downed trees could easily be a probability, he reasoned. Some trees stuck, some didn't.

 _Let's hope that theory is right or else I am taking one hell of a risk out here._

Soon the trees dispersed and Blu found himself standing in a clearing. In the center was a pond of some sort. Curious, the blue Rabbit approached, pausing just at the edge to look into the water.

It looked clean but he knew looks could be deceiving- especially in still water. The pond was clear, the light filtering impossibly through the thick canopy above penetrating several feet before tapering off. There seemed to be no current, no motion, and no life in the rounded pond.

Something was nagging him about what he saw, though.

 _It's really deep,_ he noted, ears twitching. It wasn't odd for still waters to be deep, of course... it was just an observation. _The sides are stone, too... just like the drop-off wall. Does that mean anything? Is it coincidence? Or is it just how this area works... stone underneath a thin layer of soil... it's almost like-_

His thoughts were rudely interrupted as something landed on his shoulder. With a small, surprised cry, he whirled around to face who- or what- had touched him. He had just enough time to register the purple Rabbit before his foot landed wrong, slipping on the loose soil at the edge of the pond.

For a moment, fear spiked through him as he felt his weight shift backwards, but then the Lacatran grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him away from the pond. Although Blu _definitely_ wanted to chew the taller Rabbit out for touching him, he would take that any day over falling into the deep pond.

"What the hell?" Bonnie demanded as he released Blu's shirt.

"Don't sneak up on people!" Blu immediately threw back at him, stepping to the side. He didn't want the elder Rabbit to know just how badly he had startled (and scared) him, so he quickly moved past him. "Damn Rabbit..."

"What were you thinking?" the purple Rabbit questioned, and Blu just _knew_ without even looking that Bonnie was following him.

 _What are you following me for?! Go away!_

"You wouldn't care," he opted to say. "I was looking for a _logical_ explanation."

"Answer me," Bonnie demanded and Blu scowled, keeping his eyes ahead of him as he approached the other side of the clearing.

"I _did_ answer you." It was technically true, he just didn't give the Rabbit the answer he desired.

"No you didn't," the Lacatran actually growled. "What are you thinking?"

 _Is he honestly annoyed that I'm_ not _speaking my mind?! Do you want me to shut up or talk? For the love of- just make up your mind, colonist!_

Finally, though, when it became clear that Bonnie wouldn't let up on it, he bit out, "This place is scientifically incorrect."

"Then just stop looking for scientific explanations. If there's none, just accept it," Bonnie stated, sounding so _smug_ that Blu really wanted to just claw the other's face off.

"I can't just _stop,_ " he growled slightly, stopping just a few feet short of the treeline to turn and face the Rabbit. "Being _ignorant_ isn't a good thing."

The irritation was clear on Bonnie's face and Blu knew he was about to get lectured. _Lectured by a Lacatran? I don't think so._ He turned his back as the Rabbit began with, "Look, knowing something _is_ and..."

Blu promptly tuned out as his eyes landed on a fallen tree ahead of him. Something was nagging at him about the tree... His gaze trailed up and down it, noting that the leaves were still full and green. That the tree had only recently fallen.

Suddenly he realized... many of the trees he'd seen walking through had still been alive and _green._ Many of them had fallen recently- within the last few days, if the thickness and green of the leaves were anything to go by. Something twisted in his stomach.

His gaze snapped to the downed tree's roots, dreading what he'd see.

They were attached to nothing, and the soil it had been settled on was clinging to its roots. Blu couldn't see what had been under the tree, though, not from that angle.

His heart sped up. A bad feeling welled up in his chest.

 _Stone wall, stone floor, downed trees, perfectly still, pond in the middle of clearing with absolutely no streams... trees with no grip. Something isn't right here._

Whatever Bonnie was saying was ignored as Blu's mind raced, and he suddenly ran over to the tree, making sure to stop in a way that wouldn't cause his feet to slide across the soil and stone. What met his sight made him feel somewhat numb. The hole beneath the tree wasn't large, but it was deep. It was deep, dark, and _wet,_ with drops sliding down the walls and dripping down into the blackness below. Echoing back, Blu could hear a splash.

The walls were stone.

 _A cave,_ he realized, eyes widening slightly. _We're standing above a cave. The drop-off... it wasn't natural. The roof of a cave system- it collapsed. Or is collapsing slowly over time._

 _A cave system... filled with_ water.

 _Oh no..._

The pond flashed into his mind, the water lapping against the stone wall. No streams ran in or from it, the water completely still with no sign of life inside.

 _Not a pond. A hole. A hole in the ceiling filled with water. But if there's this hole and that hole- then how many more holes are there?_

In the distance, he heard leaves rustle. A glance up showed the trees, at the very top, beginning to sway in the wind.

He could almost swear his heart skipped a beat because now he knew.

He _knew._

"We have to get out of here."

He wasn't sure what the Rabbit had been saying before, but he knew that he had interrupted him. At that moment, though, Blu didn't care. "What?" he heard Bonnie question. He didn't sound offended, just... wary. Confused. Uneasy.

Blu turned to look at him. "I get why this place is the way it is," he told the Rabbit simply. There was no time for explanation. "We have to get out of here _right now."_

Those red eyes stared at him before trailing down to the hole near Blu's feet. In the distance there was the _crash_ of a falling tree, echoing loudly in the silence around them.

Blu knew Bonnie understood now. He could tell by the way the Rabbit had tensed up, but still he said, "We're standing in a death trap."

As if to accentuate his words, there was the sound of ripping. Both of their gazes snapped over to the edge of the clearing and they watched, wide-eyed, as a tree went crashing down, soil and grass flying up into the air. The wind caught it, carrying it across the clearing.

 _The wind._

"Run," was all he managed to utter, but Bonnie didn't need to hear anything more as both Rabbits whirled around and took off in the direction they had come from.

The silence that had been settled around them was no more, but Blu would much rather hear the unnerving quiet than the terrifying sound of howling wind, rustling leaves, ripping grass roots, and trees slamming against the stone beneath their feet.

His heart racing and adrenaline pumping, he surprisingly was able to keep up with the larger Rabbit. Behind them, a tree slammed into the ground and Blu could feel soil from the impact hit the back of his leg. Thankfully it was just soil and not stone, but it was still terrifying.

When the tree crashed down _right in front_ of them, causing both of them to skid to a stop, Blu slipped in the soil and fell to the ground, and he had a new definition of terrifying. Bonnie grabbed his arm and yanked him up as he darted to the side, and Blu was forced to continue running so he wouldn't stumble and bring both of them down. When he was steady on his feet again, Bonnie released him.

 _Holes. There could be holes under the soil,_ Blu remembered through his panicked haze. _We were lucky not to fall in before, now we're off our path...!_

"There could be holes!" he tried to warn the older Rabbit through his, admittedly rough, breathing, his eyes on the ground. He flinched as a tree fell with a resounding _bang!_ right next to them, but neither of them slowed down. "Watch out for-"

As he tried to give the warning again, the ground beneath them gave; he could hear the grass ripping a second before the soil collapsed, sending both of them falling into the hole. Instinctively, Blu's hands shot out towards the side, grabbing for any support he could. One hand landed in the sifting, falling soil above while the other slammed into the stone, sending a shockwave of pain up and down his arm.

With a strangled cry, he clung to the wall. Next to him Bonnie seemed to fare better, quickly locating footholds to climb up and out of the hole, but Blu just couldn't get a good enough grip to climb. The wet, slippery stone dug painfully into his left hand- _oh man this stings, it's open isn't it, why did I leave the bandages behind?!-_ as he tightened his grip, and the dirt sifting under his right hand threatened to send him falling down into the hole.

Somewhere in the darkness below, he could hear the rain of soil and grass hit water.

 _Oh man, drowning- not the way I pictured dying,_ he thought miserably to himself. _Wonder what would be better- drowning or being crushed by a tree? Does it really matter? Either way you're dead in the end._

However, before he could really continue thinking about his own imminent demise, Bonnie grabbed his right wrist and yanked him up. He yelped in surprise, flailing slightly as he no longer had anything to hold onto. Then his feet were back on the ground.

He could hear ripping grass.

"Don't just sit there, you idiot!" Bonnie hissed, dragging him along just as the tree fell towards them. "Run!"

Bonnie's eyes were on the trees around them, watching for the trees that fell, so Blu let his eyes fall to the ground to watch for the holes. His sharp eyes easily noticed the slight nuance between the supported soil and the soil depending solely on the grass to hold it up.

It was... oddly natural, how they fell into their new "roles." Bonnie, still gripping Blu's wrist, pulling the younger along and avoiding the falling trees, and Blu avoiding the holes in the ground, tugging or pushing at Bonnie's hand to indicate which direction to move in.

It was an instinctive system made up in the moment, and Blu knew it wouldn't have worked long-term. Eventually they would have come upon a hole _and_ a falling tree, where the only choice would have been to either fall or risk getting crushed. However, it _wasn't_ a long-term solution _or_ a long-term problem, as the stone drop-off- _the cave's walls-_ came into sight relatively soon after.

The sight of the wall was welcome, and even though it wasn't the same place Blu had fallen from it wouldn't be hard to find their way back.

The real challenge would be climbing, and Blu wasn't quite sure he could manage it. He would damn well _try,_ though.

The Rabbits reached the wall without much more incident (not including the tree that slammed into the wall itself, breaking in half on the jagged edge), and Bonnie promptly released Blu's wrist in favour of climbing.

Blu's hands met the cold stone wall and he bit back a hiss. He didn't take time to look at his wounds; he knew the soil was clinging to them and climbing up the stone wall would only aggravate them.

 _I'll take my chances,_ he thought, gritting his teeth as he started climbing. He wasn't as quick as the Lacatran- _no surprise there-_ and he knew he didn't have time to be careful, but the pain in his hands made it hard, so very hard, to get a proper grip.

Still, he was _very_ aware of the trees still crashing down behind him, the wind howling in the canopy above. How any of the trees, with absolutely no grip in the ground below, survived the onslaught was a mystery- a mystery Blu had no interest in solving.

 _Note to self- never again! Note to self- listen to instincts! Note to self-_ don't _go anywhere alone! Note to self, don't be a freaking_ idiot!

When his hands hit soil, he was all too happy to pull himself up. Almost immediately his hands slipped in the loose soil, but he managed to catch himself before he could tumble all the way back down. He dug his hand through the soil, finding the stone beneath, and he latched onto the rough surface and pulled himself up into the relative safety of the raised ground.

The top part of a tree slammed into the wall right next to him, its thin, brittle twig-like branches slapping him in the face and shoulder. He let out a startled and slightly-pained yelp and scrambled away, lifting a hand to his cheek. He could already feel the stinging, where the whip-like branches and leaves had hit with far too much pressure and speed.

He was just glad it was his cheek and not his eye or neck. His shirt seemed to have saved his shoulder, but he wasn't quite sure at that moment; it was stinging somewhat but not nearly as badly.

Pushing himself to his feet, he glanced around and found Bonnie, whose foot seemed to have been trapped by one of the falling trees as he pulled himself over. A quick scan of the Lacatran's face showed that he didn't seem to be in severe pain so the idea that the tree had completely crushed his foot quieted.

That was good; Blu was a lot shorter than the older Rabbit, he was sure that he wouldn't be the best support for Bonnie if his foot were crushed or even broken.

The blue Rabbit made his way over to the purple Rabbit, keeping his eyes on the trees next to the drop-off. He knew any of them could fall towards them; that close, they could even land _on_ them. Luckily for Bonnie, it seemed that the tree that landed against his leg had been a fair distance away, so it was the thinner, lighter top half pinning his foot down and hanging over the edge.

 _Still, how'd he manage to_ not _crush his foot?_

It didn't take long to get his answer. The purple Rabbit's last foothold had been inside a cranny in the wall, and the tree had fallen at an angle where it was putting little to no pressure on the leg, most of it settled down on the stones the Lacatran's foot was between.

(Blu chose to ignore the fact that the tree had fallen right behind himself and could have easily slammed into _him_ had it been just an inch or two to the left.)

The bark was just barely pressing against Bonnie's foot; the real problem was that now Bonnie could not _remove_ his foot from the cranny.

 _Better stuck than crushed, though,_ Blu figured.

He had never been a big believer in luck but at that moment Blu could honestly say that the other Rabbit was probably the luckiest Lacatran in the world.

Then he remembered that there were only two Lacatrans on the planet so pickings for luckiest were rather slim, anyway.

Brushing his miniature tangent off, Blu glanced up at Bonnie. The colonist looked frustrated as he tugged uselessly at his foot. A crashing several yards away caused both Rabbits to wince.

 _Focus on the task at hand,_ Blu told himself, turning his gaze back to Bonnie's trapped foot. The Rabbit wasn't wearing shoes, he noticed for the first time, but he didn't dwell on it; in the villages of Lacatra, shoes were more detrimental than safe, reducing the gripping capabilities of the Rabbits who lived in the forests there. Bonnie not wearing shoes should have honestly been a given.

 _Think quickly, Blu, the wind's getting stronger- more trees will fall at this rate._ He glanced up at the forest, then towards the tree trapping Bonnie's foot. The Lacatran might have been speaking but Blu wasn't quite sure; his thoughts took up all of his concentration.

 _Bonnie's foot is trapped but the tree isn't actually on it. It's stone, can't dig him out; don't have any tools at hand to cut the tree... I am so not strong enough to move it, it's- wait!_

Blu's eyes flicked between the tree, noting its awkward angle, and the ground, then back towards the stone the tree had landed against. He could just barely see scrape marks where the tree first hit and slid before settling.

 _It's unstable,_ he realized suddenly, noting the way the tree was lying across the stone. _I don't need to be strong enough to move it, just leverage it. It's balanced weakly across the stone the Lacatran's foot's stuck in, if I can move it just a few inches gravity should take care of the rest!_

 _Thankfully it's the lighter half of the tree..._

Scrambling to his feet, Blu moved around Bonnie, ignoring the way the Lacatran looked at him. He didn't have time to explain anything.

 _Rabbits have naturally strong legs, if I brace my back against the ground I could use my legs to shift the tree._

Following that train of thought and ignoring the tree top that smashed against the stone hardly two feet to his left, he dropped down to the ground, planted his feet against the tree and dug his hands through the dirt, grabbing the stone beneath for extra support. It didn't take him even a few seconds to determine where the tree was weakest, putting as much pressure against it as he could.

The tree shifted a few centimeters, but he didn't let up on the pressure. Weakening, the tree slipped further, and Blu's legs were beginning to burn from the effort.

Light half or not, the tree was _heavy._

Finally, though, the tree shifted and jerked as its precarious balance was thrown off. Blu had all of three seconds to register it falling, drop his legs, and roll away from the incoming branches and leaves as the tree tumbled back down the stone wall.

He collided with Bonnie as he did so, but he would much rather be too close to the Lacatran than be where he was lying before as one of the tree's branches slammed down, taking the soil, grass, and chunks of stone with it as it sent the tree twisting back down onto the collapsed cavern roof. Blu tried not to think about how close to getting himself killed he had been; that branch had broken the stone away, who knew what it could have done to his body?

With his foot free, Bonnie yanked himself completely over the side of the drop, and Blu pushed himself to his own feet.

His legs were burning but they weren't safe yet.

Bonnie grabbed his wrist again and dragged him along, perfectly aware of how much danger they were still in. Neither of them said anything, concentrating solely on _get away get away get out of here!_

The younger wasn't sure how much time had passed before they could no longer hear the crashing of trees, but as the sounds of disaster and terror faded the Rabbits slowed down to a stop, both's breathing somewhat ragged from the continuous run and the physical effort it had taken to get away from the death-bowl.

As the Lacatran released Blu's wrist, Blu promptly let himself fall to the ground, leaning back against a tree and looking at his ruined hands. They were coated in dirt and bleeding, his cheek was bleeding, and his legs were aching; he had no doubt Bonnie had gotten hurt somehow as well, when they fell in the hole or when the tree had trapped him. It had still been touching him, after all.

 _Need to get to the stream,_ he told himself, but he couldn't convince himself to move.

"Come on, get up," Bonnie told him, voice somewhat rough from his breathing. "We need to get to the stream at least."

Blu knew he was right- he had literally just thought the same thing- but part of him wanted to be selfish, just for once.

(He ignored the part of him that pointed out that had Bonnie just left when he noticed Blu had gone over the drop, like Blu had been wanting, the Lapinian would probably be dead and no one would have ever known his fate.)

"We just escaped a death trap," he complained instead, dropping his hands and leaning his head against the tree. Every part of him was screaming, it seemed. "Can't we rest even a _little_ while?"

If the Lacatran was going to protest, he didn't voice it. Instead, a few seconds of silence passed between them before Bonnie sighed in irritation, but rather than try and force Blu to continue onwards he dropped down across from Blu, leaning against the tree there. Blu didn't pay him anymore mind, choosing to close his eyes and concentrate on his breathing. He had never done that much physical labour in his life, and the fact that he considered running and climbing physical labour almost upset him.

The only positive he could find, and it wasn't really a positive at all, was that he could hear the purple Rabbit's rough breathing, letting him know that Bonnie felt the effects too.

Heavy silence fell around them, but this time it was welcomed. The wind in the trees above was the only sound.


	7. Damaged, but not Broken

He saw the tree out of the corner of his eye, falling from his left at an odd angle, and he tried to pull himself over the edge before it landed.

To say the least, he didn't succeed. His foot was tucked into a crevice between two stones, and those two stones just _happened_ to be where the tree landed.

It was both a stroke of luck and misfortune that the two stones _didn't_ break from the force. On the one hand, shattered stone didn't embed itself into his flesh and the tree only scraped against the back of his foot rather than _crushing it completely._

On the other hand, his foot was stuck and he was now in the awkward position of his hands against the ground, bracing himself on one knee and the other leg stretching awkwardly and somewhat-painfully down to the cranny he had been using to boost himself up.

In other words, he was a sitting duck for any other trees that might come crashing down.

Frustration quickly filled him as he tugged at his foot, but the tree and stone refused to budge. He was sufficiently trapped; he could feel the pressure from the tree and the stone both, pressing against his foot and even his leg right above the crevice, where the tree was balancing.

He could only gather the tree's position from the branches hanging over him, what he could see to his left and right, and the feeling of the tree against the back of his foot and calf. He could also feel a warmth gathering, thinly, on the back of his heel where the tree had scraped him.

It was stinging lightly, but he paid it no mind as Cator pulled himself up over the wall finally. He watched the tree fall on the other side of the rabbit, wincing slightly as the Rabbit yelped and scrambled away. Even from the distance he was at, he had heard the fleshy sound of what might as well have been a thin whip hitting the Lapinian.

Whether it hurt or not, the Lapinian didn't dwell on it; instead he looked around before his eyes landed on Bonnie. Before the purple Rabbit could determine what the younger was thinking, Cator was by his side.

 _Are you an idiot? Run!_

He didn't say it aloud, though; it was clear to him that the blue Rabbit was focusing on anything but conversation and his words would go right over the other's head. Figuring that the young scientist- at least, Bonnie assumed he was a scientist, based on his insistence of _experiment_ \- was paying him no real mind, he attempted yet again to free his foot despite knowing it was futile.

A crash not far behind startled him and he winced, the sharp sound somewhat painful to his ears. He glanced back at the Lapinian in time to see him turn back to Bonnie's foot, his brows drawn together in clear thought.

"Don't bother, kid, just go," he growled slightly, but the Rabbit gave no indication of hearing- just as he expected. "This is useless and you're gonna get yourself killed."

There was still no reaction. Just as he thought, there was no way to actually _talk_ to the Rabbit when he got this way. _Damn Lapinian, listen to me you jerk._

He silently watched as the Lapinian's expression loosened and his eyes flicked between the tree and stone, as though noticing something that Bonnie hadn't. That wouldn't have been hard at all, considering Bonnie couldn't see his trapped foot at the moment.

Whatever it was the Rabbit had realized had apparently been groundbreaking- at least pertaining to this moment. The Lapinian didn't even react to the tree that collided with the stone wall right behind him, the wood shattering and scattering across the grass, as he scrambled to his feet and circled around Bonnie.

Bonnie furrowed his brow, watching the Lapinian move underneath where the tree was hanging over. "What are you doing?" he questioned, despite knowing the smaller Rabbit wouldn't answer. "Getting _under_ it seems like a- _what are you doing?_ " The Lapinian dropped down under the tree on his back and Bonnie stared, incredulous. It looked _extremely_ dangerous. It made no sense to him.

At least, it didn't until the Rabbit lifted his legs and planted them against the tree. His feet shifted only slightly once he had done so and his hands dug into the ground before he began pushing the tree.

 _Leverage._

 _There's no way it's gonna work,_ he thought, but already he could feel the tree slipping away, very slightly. The Lapinian didn't let the slight motion deter him, continuing to push until the tree jerked, losing its- _precarious, it was precarious-_ perch.

The tree began to fall, its branches heading straight for the Lapinian's spot, but Cator was faster; releasing the ground and dropping his legs, he rolled out of the tree's path.

He hit Bonnie but Bonnie couldn't be bothered to care at the moment, watching wide-eyed as the tree's branches smashed into and _through_ the ground, sending stone and soil and grass flying into the air while the tree twisted and spun as it continued its fall to the forest floor below the drop.

Bonnie briefly closed his eyes and ducked his head as some of the debris hit him. Thankfully it was nothing too big and it wasn't moving nearly fast enough to actually pierce his skin.

It took him a moment to really register that his foot was free, and as the Lapinian was getting up to his feet Bonnie pulled his own foot free and practically leapt up. Without really thinking about it, Bonnie grabbed the other's wrist and took off running again, ignoring the slight throbbing in his foot that reminded him that he had at the very _least_ been scraped. Cator didn't protest the motion, though Bonnie knew that could very well have been because he wasn't breathing correctly as they ran and simply could _not_ make any protest.

Mind you, Bonnie wasn't breathing correctly either and it, along with the sheer amount of _running_ and _climbing_ and the forced kneeling and stretching, was taking its toll on him. He could only imagine how the less physically-fit Lapinian felt at the moment.

The wind kept howling through the treetops above, and Bonnie was absolutely sure that it hadn't done that in the short time they'd been on the planet. _Just my luck that it'd happen when we're in literally the most dangerous and susceptible place on the fucking planet. What the hell even_ was _that shit anyway?!_

He slowed to a stop when, at last, he could no longer hear the crashing of falling trees. How any of the trees remained standing was a mystery to Bonnie, but he decided that _that_ was a question he would _much_ rather not have answered.

He wasn't sure he'd like what he heard.

 _Note to self; never go there again,_ he told himself, releasing the smaller Rabbit's wrist at last.

Almost immediately, Cator let himself fall to the ground and Bonnie frowned as he leaned back against a tree. It was clear to the Rabbit that the Lapinian was exhausted, but as he caught sight of the younger's hands he knew they needed to get to the stream they had found.

The younger Rabbit's hands were covered in dirt and blood. Undoubtedly the wounds had reopened. On Cator's left cheek he could also see several thin, bleeding cuts. Those looked shallow enough, but they were clearly visible even through the Rabbit's fur, which somewhat concerned Bonnie.

The fact that they could be mistaken for clawmarks was almost unnerving; he knew exactly what the Ursian back at camp's first assumption would be. However, that was honestly the least of Bonnie's concern; it was obvious that both of them had been through an ordeal, with their clothes stained with mud and both sporting a few new scrapes and bruises.

Bonnie could feel the scrapes on his own hands from slipping against the wet stone stinging, but he chose to ignore it for the moment. He could focus on and count his own injuries later.

"Come on," he called to Cator, "get up. We need to get to the stream at least."

The Lapinian's emerald eyes shifted from his hands up to Bonnie, clearly unhappy. "We just escaped a death trap," he complained, letting his hands drop down onto his raised knees. "Can't we rest even a _little_ while?"

Bonnie's first instinct was to say _no_ but he paused. His own breathing was somewhat ragged but the Lapinian's sounded like he was about to die. And, admittedly, Bonnie's own body was protesting the thought of continuing on right then as well.

 _I should make sure nothing major happened, anyway. A short rest won't kill us._

 _Hopefully._

With a sigh, Bonnie sat down across from the blue Rabbit. Seeing this, Cator closed his eyes and rested against the tree.

Bonnie looked at his own hands, brushing the dirt off and frowning at the way the fur had been scraped away, revealing raw and slightly-bleeding palms. His grip had slipped a few times in the hole and on the drop's wall, so the sight wasn't any surprise to him. It was minor, though, so he moved his gaze to his foot that was grazed by the tree.

The back of the heel and the flesh right above it had been scraped and was lightly bleeding as well, but again no real damage had been done. Thankfully; that could have easily disabled him, even if it was temporarily. A slight ache told him that the pressure from the tree had caused more strain than what it had first appeared to, but it was nothing debilitating.

Satisfied that his own injuries were only mild, he turned his attention to the Lapinian sitting in front of him. A quick scan revealed what he had already assumed; the worst damage was the Rabbit's pre-existing injuries. The scratches on his cheek were shallow, and the cloth on his shoulder was torn but it lacked blood, so Bonnie believed it safe to assume that the branches hadn't managed to break through his skin. There was a slice in the Lapinian's shoe, probably from climbing the stone wall, but Bonnie hadn't detected any sort of limp as they ran so he doubted there was an injury there.

Of course, as he watched the Lapinian sit there silently, showing absolutely zero sign of pain despite what _had_ to be burning agony in his hands, Bonnie knew looks could be deceiving.

He watched the teen, reluctantly admitting to himself that the Lapinian was at a disadvantage from the very start. Not even old enough by Lacatran standards to leave his parents and claim a mate, he was in that awkward stage between childhood and adulthood, and he had abruptly been pulled away from everything he knew- computers, automatic systems, planetwide connection, vehicles, factories, and so much more that Bonnie could never even imagine- and dropped into a place more primitive than but similar to Bonnie's own planet...

With a bunch of strangers.

Of course the Lapinian would struggle. This was a situation he didn't know or understand, a situation over which he had no control. No technology, no safetynets, no other Lapinians to confer with, nothing but his own wits and forced trust in complete strangers to rely on.

But Bonnie had to give him props, anyway; he was quick, both physically and mentally. Bonnie wouldn't have even considered trying to leverage the tree- not that he could, anyway, being the one trapped by it- and he wouldn't have put the pieces together nearly soon enough to get himself out of the "death trap," as the Lapinian had called it.

Then again, if the Lapinian hadn't wandered off in the first place they wouldn't have even been there.

And maybe Bonnie would still feel perfectly alright with hating the Rabbit at face value.

He closed his eyes, scowling to himself as certain memories flashed through his mind. They were vivid memories; he could remember the sounds, the smells, the sights, could even remember the symbols that had been carved into the trees around...

He had only been around eight or nine, but clear as day he could remember hiding with his injured brothers, watching from the trees as a Lapinian walked through the burning remains of his village. He could remember how the Rabbit had passed a young girl crying for help, barely even glancing her way as he did so.

He could remember the satisfied expression on his face, knowing that he had successfully quelled the growing rebellion. That he had been the one to destroy innocent lives, forcing the survivors back into subservience and reminding them all of what Lapinia was capable of. That he had put them back in their place, reinforcing Lapinian rule over the colony.

General Commander Cator had no sympathy, no regrets, as he watched villages burn and demanded the deaths of Lacatrans- old, young, male, female, village leader, village gravekeeper, it didn't matter who or what they were. In the end, they were all Lacatrans and they were all rebellious.

General Commander Cator had not even batted an eye at the sight of a child, barely past toddler years, bleeding out on the ground- and the fact that Bonnie now knew he'd had a son around the same age only made it worse. General Commander Cator had looked at a child who, for all intents and purposes, could have been his own... and walked away, leaving her to die as their world burned around them.

 _Bandi_ Cator, however, put himself in danger's way to help Bonnie- a Lacatran who made his stance on Lapinia clear. The General Commander's own son had saved someone who was making his life more difficult, even though they weren't friends. Even though they didn't like each other- even though Bonnie made it clear he outright _hated_ the Lapinian, antagonizing him at every turn- he had still chosen to help rather than run and save himself.

General Commander Cator would not have been in any danger if he had helped the suffering child. _Bandi_ Cator nearly got himself killed.

 _Maybe Freddy was right. The son's not his father._

Even in his mind's eye, he couldn't put the teen in front of him in his father's place. There was just too much difference now. They weren't nearly as interchangeable as he had thought.

"I don't get you," he suddenly started, not even thinking about his words.

"Huh?"

Bonnie opened his eyes and looked at the blue Rabbit, who was now looking at him in confusion. Of course the Lapinian wouldn't understand his statement; he was smart, not a mind reader.

"You _are_ General Commander Cator's son, right?" he questioned, watching as the Rabbit's expression hardened.

"Yes. I'm the son of General Commander Akrai Cator and Dr. Aniya Martel."

His voice was dull and his eyes looked almost _dead_ as he stated this. It sounded like a pre-prepared message, an answer to a question he got asked a lot. He didn't sound like he was happy about the fact.

Bonnie just watched him, frowning. "You don't act anything like him."

"That's because I'm _not_ him," Cator scoffed, looking away. "I'm _Bandi_ Cator, not _Akrai_ Cator."

"But he raised you."

"Yeah. _Raised_ me," he snorted, as though it was the funniest thing he had ever heard. His eyes were like steel, though, as he turned back to Bonnie, voice taking on a harsh edge. "My father has authority over me, but never make that mistake; my _father_ didn't raise me, and neither did my _mother._ " Bonnie chose not to interrupt, allowing the Lapinian to say his piece with only a little confusion. "I live with them and I obey them as is proper, but I was _raised_ inside a _school._ The lessons I learned in that house are lessons I _won't_ carry into my own."

It sounded bitter, tinged with hatred, and Bonnie suddenly wondered what kind of childhood he must have had to hate his parents and the lessons they taught him so much. Bonnie barely had any memories of his own parents but- distantly- he could still remember the values they had begun teaching him before the last Rebellion. He couldn't imagine hating them or the things they had instilled in him.

Of course, Cator wasn't Bonnie. Everything was completely different on Lapinia.

"But isn't that how it always is with Lapinians?" he prodded, raising a brow. He didn't know much about Lapinian society, but he did know education was a large part of their lives. "You basically live half at school and half at home."

"My house was a school itself," Cator muttered, turning his gaze to the ground. Bonnie noticed the distance phrasing; _house._ Not _home._ "When I got back from school I studied until dinner. That was the rule. And yes- that _is_ how most Lapinians are. I just didn't like it but I could live with it."

There was something that the teen wasn't saying... but Bonnie decided not to pry. It wasn't any of _his_ business, after all. Instead, he commented, "Well I hope you're not expected to follow your father's footsteps. You don't... seem like that kind of person," he admitted, albeit begrudgingly. He didn't like even admitting to _himself_ that any Lapinian didn't seem like the kind of person who _wouldn't_ destroy lives.

"I'm not," Cator muttered, brushing his hands off on his already-dirty pants. "Expected to, that is. I mean, when I was born I was. Most sons are expected to follow their father's path and most daughters are expected to follow their mother's, few change it up, but shit happened and I was requested to be transferred to military science dual pathway."

Something sounded strange in that sentence. Bonnie raised a brow. "You requested or you _were_ requested?"

"I _was_ requested," he muttered. "By the Chancellor. Because reasons."

It was clear that Cator wasn't going to give more on that specific topic so Bonnie dropped it. "So if you're still in military, why aren't you expected to become the General Commander?"

"Because I'm a _scientist,_ not a soldier," was the simple answer. "Military scientists don't fight or command, we... build and repair. We... work on the ships and..." The Rabbit's voice trailed off, his emerald eyes refusing to look at Bonnie now.

It didn't matter, though. Bonnie knew what he meant.

Military scientists built weapons.

Weapons to destroy.

Had the... Rabbit mentioned that fact just hours before, Bonnie would have completely flipped out on him. _Weapons, like the ones that destroyed Lacatran villages and stole Lacatran lives._ It would have been all of the "proof" he needed that Cator was just like all of the other Lapinians- just like his father. However, the way the blue Rabbit refused to look at him, the way he sounded, how bitter and downright _hateful_ he was towards his own parents- and potentially the entire planet...

Bandi Cator did not look happy. He did not sound happy. He didn't even sound content or complacent; he sounded more like he was cursing his very existence at that moment. Like he wished he could be anyone other than Bandi Cator.

 _He doesn't want to be a scientist._

That realization struck him hard; the teen didn't sound happy about science at all. He was always looking for logic and facts, but not once had Cator bemoaned the lack of computers or holograms or... whatever else existed on Lapinia. He was upset that he was being forced to pursue science, he was angry, he was... _hurt._

The Rabbit was smart but... _is it possible he wishes he wasn't Lapinian?_

Slowly, hesitantly, Bonnie asked, "What do you... _want_ to do, though?"

The silence that fell between them felt heavier than the silence in the Death Forest had. Something flashed through the Rabbit's eyes, but Bonnie couldn't decipher it as, suddenly, Cator stood up.

"It doesn't matter," the Rabbit informed him bitterly, turning away. "My future isn't _my_ choice." Before Bonnie could say anything to contradict his words or question their meaning, Cator continued, "We should go, we don't know how long day lasts on this planet."

Bonnie watched, somewhat shocked, as the blue Rabbit abruptly moved away, back towards camp and, by extension, the stream. After registering exactly what had just happened, he shoved himself to his feet to follow the younger Rabbit. He caught up within seconds.

"Wait, but you-" he started, but the Lapinian cut him off.

"Childhood fantasies shouldn't be entertained at my age. It's not my choice, so _back off."_

The aggression that entered his voice almost caused Bonnie to pause. Clearly the younger Rabbit was _very_ upset over it, upset enough to very nearly _challenge_ Bonnie.

Bonnie _knew_ it wasn't a challenge, of course; the teen was just getting defensive about a sensitive issue as all teens do. However, Bonnie just didn't understand- did the Lapinian really get no say in his own future?

Despite his curiosity and confusion, Bonnie knew better than to push it. The younger wasn't his friend and they were still on bad terms, their shared near-death experience aside. If he pushed too far, pried too much, into something that Cator wasn't willing to share, it would only make matters worse- as impossible as that seemed.

 _But,_ he thought as he followed the younger Rabbit silently, _I think I know why he was hurting himself earlier._

Again, he said nothing. He knew Cator would simply deny it again.

Maybe the other Rabbit didn't even recognize the destructive behavior for what it was. Maybe he had managed to convince himself it _was_ just an experiment. Somehow Bonnie wouldn't be surprised, and briefly he wondered just what else Cator didn't know.

He let the silence continue for a while, mulling over his thoughts and watching the Rabbit in front of him. Cator was small, not that that was any surprise; Lapinians in general were small, but what they lacked in strength and size they made up for in wits and _weapons._ However, Bonnie had never met a Lapinian _scientist_ before, only their soldiers; did all of their scientists look so small, so _young?_ And if so, why? Or was Bandi Cator yet another exception to the rule?

Then his gaze landed on the Rabbit's hands. He frowned at the way the fingers seemed to unconsciously curl in on themselves. The teen hadn't even attempted to care for or protect them, and now- _we're not even going the right way._

Bonnie sighed, feeling only slightly irritated that he had chosen to follow rather than lead when he _knew_ a Lapinian wouldn't be very good with directions. "The stream's to the right, Cator," he called up to the teen. The blue Rabbit's ears twitched and Bonnie had a feeling that he did _not_ appreciate being called by his surname, if the way he huffed was any indication. However, he (surprisingly) followed Bonnie's directions anyway, changing course to the right and towards the stream.

The trip to the stream was completely silent, and when they finally did reach the waterway neither of them said a word. Cator sat heavily on the ground next to the water and, as Bonnie sat several feet away to care for his own wounds, tore out a strip of his shirt. Bonnie observed, almost boredly, as the other Rabbit dipped the strip of cloth into the water, allowing it to take as much of the dirt it could.

Bonnie turned to the water and began cleaning his own wounds, watching as the dirt and scant amount of blood washed away and dissipated in the water. It was somewhat fascinating; no hint of it remained, the water going clear within seconds of the foreign substance being added. It didn't do that on Lacatra; any pollution added to the rivers had to be removed manually, including minerals and blood. That was _not_ easily done, especially since the water dilated it. In fact, it was next to impossible. That was why they couldn't drink the water straight from the river; in Lacatra, rainwater and boiling river water were the only safe ways to have water to drink.

 _I bet the original colonists would have loved knowing, but no one bothered to check, did they?_

Realizing he was getting off track, Bonnie turned his gaze and his attention back to his wounds.

After a few moments, he decided the scrapes didn't warrant bandaging- which was good, because he really didn't want to rip his shirt. Clothes weren't easy to make on Lacatra and they certainly weren't provided, so unnecessarily tearing them apart wasn't a pleasant thought to the purple Rabbit. It-

"Music."

It was said so suddenly, so flatly, so _quietly_ that Bonnie almost missed it. Blinking, he looked towards the blue Rabbit, who was at that moment wrapping his hands up again. "Huh?"

"I just want to play music," the Lapinian muttered, not looking up to meet his gaze. "It's the only thing I liked on Lapinia."

With that, the younger Rabbit stood up and began walking back towards camp. Bonnie watched him for a few silent seconds before he got up to follow. He didn't need to question what the problem with _that_ was.

Even on Lacatra, they knew Lapinians didn't _do_ art.

Briefly, he wondered how Cator even knew about music.

When they reached the camp, all three Bears were standing, and at the sight of them Spring leapt to his feet as well. The others in the camp were either sitting or lying down, but they all turned their attention to the approaching Rabbits.

"It's about time!" Spring huffed, annoyed as he turned to Bonnie. "What took you- what the _hell_ happened?" His brother's tone abruptly took on worry the moment he actually _looked_ at them, with their clothes dirty and ruined and their fur messy. Plus the scratches on Cator's face didn't help.

It occurred to Bonnie that they were quite a sight to see at that moment.

"I'd like to know that, too," Freddy voiced, eying Cator's cheek. When he glanced at Bonnie, there was accusation in his blue eyes.

Bonnie crossed his arms, frowning at Freddy. "Oh, y'know, we just took a leisurely stroll through a death trap forest and almost got ourselves killed multiple times in a row, that's all," he drawled sarcastically, ears twitching as Cator snorted from beside him.

 _"What?_ "

"I slipped off a drop-off," Cator deadpanned. "And instead of climbing back up I went to explore. Long story short, it was the collapsed roof of a flooded cave system and the trees growing on top had no grip, holes were everywhere, and, oh, by the way, the wind can get _really strong and knock trees over, how fun!_ Take a guess at what happened," he muttered the last part. His words actually surprised Bonnie- and not just because the younger Rabbit was being sarcastic.

Not that he didn't know the Rabbit could be sarcastic, he'd showed _that_ plenty of times, but he hadn't expected Cator to act sarcastically towards _Freddy._ It had seemed like Cator respected Freddy.

"Okay," Bonnie sighed, glancing at Cator with a slight frown, "I was _not_ aware of the flooded cave system thing."

"And now you are," Cator snorted. Bonnie didn't get a chance to respond.

"How'd you even figure all of that out, Blu?" Fredric questioned, raising a brow at the blue Rabbit.

 _Blu?_

Cator looked at the rosy bear and just shrugged. "I noted my surroundings," he explained vaguely. "Just... y'know, looked around. Put the pieces together. A seemingly-bottomless pond, three-inch layer of soil being held together by grass over stone, fallen trees, a stone wall that extended far as I could see, and holes in the ground with condensation on the walls and water at the bottom. I just feel like an idiot for not realizing sooner."

Bonnie decided not to point out he himself hadn't realized at all, not until that moment as Cator was telling them.

"And your face...?" Fredric trailed, and Bonnie could tell he was trying _so hard_ to _not_ jump to conclusions. Bonnie wondered how the Bear would have reacted if Bonnie told them about the Rabbit's earlier "experiment."

He didn't like the imagined reaction.

"I got smacked by a tree when it almost landed on me," Cator muttered with a dismissive wave of his hand. Bonnie didn't miss the way Fredric eyed it, clearly noticing that it was a different bandage.

"So wait," Spring started, glancing between the blue and purple Rabbits. Irritatingly enough, he sounded somewhat _amused._ "You two nearly got killed by trees and _holes?"_

"Spring, I swear, if you make a joke out of this I will strangle you in your sleep," Bonnie immediately threatened, eying his brother.

"Fine, I won't make a joke- but what's the problem with water? I mean, couldn't you have just waited it out in one of the holes or something?"

Bonnie blinked and frowned at his brother. It _was_ a viable option, but really, who _knew_ what was in the water? "I don't fancy breathing in water vapour, Spring. I _also_ don't like the thought of a tree landing over the hole and getting trapped, y'know."

"Point," Spring conceded with a shrug.

"Well," Fredric started with a sigh, "I guess that means it's a good thing Blu was looking for answers."

"What?" Bonnie questioned, raising a brow. He had a feeling he knew where the Bear was going.

"If he had done what you said and _didn't_ look for the answer, then he wouldn't have realized what was happening until it was too late."

He had a point. He had a point and Bonnie hated it because he couldn't say anything against it. Unable to think of anything to say, he just scowled and rolled his eyes, and that was the end of it.

Neither of them mentioned what Cator was doing when Bonnie found him. Neither of them mentioned Cator leveraging the tree, either, or mentioned them falling into the hole.

Instead, the younger Rabbit let out a sigh and just said, "I'm just gonna go sit down, if you'll excuse me." Before any of them could protest, though none of them were going to, the blue Rabbit walked over to a tree and sat down, leaning against it and drawing his knees up to his chest. Bonnie watched as the Rabbit leaned his forehead against his knees, his hands curling against his chest and out of sight.

 _He's in pain._

That was the simple fact of it; the teen was in pain. There was nothing Bonnie could do, so instead he turned to his brother and said, "Spring, you and I need to talk." It was true; they _did_ need to talk. He needed to tell him what he had figured out- needed to tell him everything that happened.

Spring looked at him, raising a brow. "About what?" he questioned, clearly confused.

Aware of their audience, Bonnie added, "Privately." Without waiting for a response, he grabbed his younger brother's arm and dragged him away, ignoring Freddy's call to _not_ go off on their own.

Bonnie had yet to figure out a way past the... "translation program" in their heads. Any time he even _tried_ to speak Lacatran it came out in English, and it frustrated him to no end to hear the words that he could yet could not understand in place of his (in his mind) much smoother mother tongue.

As he dragged his brother away from the camp, he failed to notice the shadow watching them.

* * *

"Ooh, what's this..."

"An interesting new development."

"Two, in fact. I wonder- did the Winds soften the Lacatran? Or was it the Lapinian's confessions afterwards?"

"Who knows. What I'm more interested in is their... guest."

"I wonder what it's after? Why is it here?"

"Does it know what's going on? Will it interfere?"

"That is definitely a concern to have, Shafred..."

"Perhaps we'll get more out of this experiment than we first anticipated."

"Perhaps we will. Let us check on the others, and then we can return to these on the morrow. If their guest is going to act, I doubt it will act while we are watching. Undoubtedly it knows we are here- its kind are _much_ too intelligent to not know our presence."

"Quite right you are, Bonsha. Let's go."

* * *

 **A/N** : If you're reading this, gimme an opinion; should I post some of my other stories here?


	8. Something Watches

_Sitting there with his head against his knees, his hands curled up to his chest, Blu wasn't quite sure what to think. The forest around him was quiet and the fire was burning, casting a warm glow over everything and chasing the shadows away, but Blu couldn't bring himself to enjoy the peace of the night._

 _Everyone was asleep. Blu wasn't sure how long they'd been asleep- he'd lost track of time a while ago, his head swimming and stomach churning- but they were. All but himself._

 _A glance up to where Red was lying, not too far from where Blu sat against the tree, showed the rosy Bear fast asleep, perfectly at peace in the outdoors. Nearby, the Bear twins slept side by side, though it didn't appear that either of them were sleeping deeply; probably a snap of a twig would wake them. The Chickens and the pink and white Fox seemed to congregate together while keeping a proper distance, both of the females lying on their backs and the Fox curled up. Off by himself the red Fox could easily have been mistaken for dead if it weren't for his twitching ears and tail, lying on his stomach with his arms cushioning his chin. The Humans both shifted in their sleep, the lighter-haired Jeremy actually turning over to hide his face from the firelight._

 _Blu's eyes landed on the Lacatran brothers across the camp. Both of them were asleep, as Blu knew they would be, and like Red they seemed perfectly at ease. The purple Rabbit was sitting against a tree as well, though his head was leaning on his brother's on his shoulder; clearly they had no qualms whatsoever about using one another as pillows._

 _It was strange, seeing the aggressive Animals sleeping so peacefully- so quietly, their expressions soft and loose._

 _For a moment Blu envied them, but then he sighed and dropped his head back down. Envy would get him nowhere, after all._

 _His hands felt numb and his cheek was stinging, and he simply couldn't ignore it. How ironic, he mused, that that had been his goal just earlier that day; produce a pain that he couldn't ignore._

 _At that moment, he would take running through a forest of collapsing trees and floors with the purple Lacatran over the pain he was feeling right then._

 _Knowing he would get no sleep, he slowly sat up and uncurled his fingers to look at his hands. The makeshift bandages were spotty with both blood and mud. For a moment he felt a wave of revulsion- the brown tainting the red, making a disgusting colour that he just didn't know how to describe- but it faded quickly into a dull worry; he could barely even move his fingers._

 _He was afraid he would lose them, and then he would never play his Chaska again._

 _With a soft sigh, Blu closed his eyes and let his head fall against the tree. He listened to the fire crackle, the soft breathing and murmurings of his companions, the soft snores of Mike... it was peaceful, unusual, completely new and foreign to the blue Rabbit, but it wasn't all that bothersome really. It was almost... welcome. For once, he didn't feel completely alone._

 _It was nice... right up until a breeze ran through his fur and something clamped over his mouth._

 _Green eyes flew open, wide as terror flooded his system; he could feel three long, bony fingers pressing against his cheek and a flat, rough palm against his lips. He tried to jerk away, tried to cry out-_ anything _to get away- but as he moved away from the tree the..._ whatever _it was looped its other arm around his abdomen, its grip firm as it pulled at him. He couldn't make a sound, even in his throat, so in a moment of desperation he kicked his legs out, digging his feet into the dirt as well as he could, and reached out to grab at the ground._

 _However, as he felt himself being pulled away, his sight faded to black... and he understood why he couldn't make a sound._

 _Whatever had grabbed him had already subdued him before it ever reached out._

* * *

The morning light streaming through the canopy landed on the golden Rabbit's face, prompting him to blink his silvery-green eyes open. Around him he could hear the other Animals shifting, and next to him his brother groaned a complaint as Spring sat up and stretched.

His ears twitched at the sound of his back popping, and with a soft sigh he glanced around the camp.

It wasn't quite a clearing, really, but it was close enough for his tastes. Jeremy had sat up, the hair on his head a total wreck, and was staring blankly across at the Bear twins, both of whom seemed wide awake already and were talking quietly to one another.

"Ugh," Bonnie huffed beside him, "if anything we need to make a shelter to block out the sun..."

"C'mon, Bonnie, not everyone's lazy," Spring shot back with a smug grin, standing up to his feet. The Chickens seemed to have woken up a while ago, both of them just returning to camp with buckets of water in their hands- _what are they doing with that?-_ while the white and pink Fox buried their head in the grass, refusing to let the sunlight rouse them. Mike and Foxy both seemed completely unfazed by the light.

 _Something's... missing,_ he noted, watching the Bear colonist rub the sleep out of his eyes. He let his gaze scan over the rest of the camp, looking for whatever seemed out of place. Something... obvious. _Something important._

"Where the fuck is that Rabbit."

It was a flat and irritated not-quite-question, and Spring glanced over at his brother before following his gaze to the other side of the campsite. Bonnie's red eyes were on the tree that the Lapinian had been leaning against just the night before, and Spring frowned as he realized that the Rabbit was nowhere to be seen.

"That's the question of the morning," Fredric sighed, looking over towards the tree, highly unimpressed and somewhat worried. "He's always running off..."

"I'm beginning to notice a pattern," the golden Bear added with a frown. "The most ill-equipped at survival is the one who keeps going off on his own."

"He probably doesn't have any sense of self preservation; he _is_ Lapinian, he's never exactly been somewhere like this..." Spring muttered to Bonnie, too quietly for the Bears to hear.

"Chica, Chii," Freddy called to the Chickens, "did you happen to see Bandi this morning?"

The Chickens shared a look before shaking their heads. "He was gone when I woke up an hour or two ago," Chii informed the brown Bear, lightly kicking her foot against the ground. "I just assumed he had gone off to take a bath or something, his fur was really messy after all..."

"Well," Spring sighed in irritation, making his way over to the tree, "might as well hunt him down before..."

His voice died in his throat and he stopped short, staring at the grass. It was in disarray, as though there had been a short struggle in the soft soil, and some of the grass had been completely ripped up as if someone had been grabbing at it for purchase. No footprints, except those of the Rabbit walking _to_ the tree the day before, were visible. It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened.

The Lapinian hadn't walked off; he was _taken._

"Yeah, I guess," Bonnie agreed, annoyance clear in his voice. "But I'm done chasing that Rabbit around, he-"

"Freddy," Spring suddenly called, eyes still on the grass and not concerned at all about cutting his brother's complaints off. "Come here."

Confused, the brown Bear, along with his own golden brother, approached. "What is it, Spring?"

"Look."

He knew they did as told when Goldie took in a sharp breath. "Oh."

"Yeah. Looks like he was right about one thing; we definitely aren't alone here," Spring deadpanned, glancing over his shoulder towards his brother. Bonnie was on his feet and walking over to them now, brows drawn together in confusion.

"What?" Bonnie questioned, coming up next to Spring. He eyed the grass, his displeased frown slipping off. "Oh. Well fuck."

"How about," Fredric suddenly spoke up, irritation seeping into his voice, "instead of standing here and gawking we _try to find him?"_

"He's probably dead," Spring muttered with a careless shrug, ignoring the way the Bears and even his brother looked at him. With a sigh, Spring defended, "Come on, he was injured and whatever took him got him in the middle of the night more than a few hours ago, _and_ it left no trail."

 _"Actually, Spring, I don't think he's much of a threat... ah, he actually kinda... saved me, I guess? Granted, he was the reason we were there in the first place, but..."_

He actually hoped the Lapinian wasn't dead. He wanted answers about that- about why a _Lapinian_ would help or save a _Lacatran_ , or how the Lapinian managed to convince Bonnie, of all people, that he wasn't a threat.

 _Especially_ the son of the General Commander.

"Well, there's no signs yet that he's dead," Freddy sighed, clearly irritated with Spring. "But we can't have everyone looking for him, we won't get anything done."

"I'll search for him," Fredric immediately volunteered.

"Actually," Goldie started, "Fredric, Bonnie, and Spring probably have the best tracking skills out of all of us, being colonists- no offense but it's just facts," he immediately added towards said colonists.

"Why would the truth offend us?" Bonnie snorted, crossing his arms. Spring rolled his eyes. "We already knew that anyway, and we take pride in that."

"What you're suggesting is us three search for him," Spring guessed, raising a brow at the Ursian. Goldie looked right back at him, not at all intimidated by Spring's light hostility.

"It'll be the fastest way," he answered simply. Spring couldn't exactly argue that either.

"I can go with them," Mangle suddenly spoke up, apparently having sensed the tense air between them. Spring wasn't even sure when the Fox had finally gotten up. "Y'know, to keep the Rabbits and Bear from fighting."

Oh yeah, it was no secret that Fredric did _not_ like the Lacatrans. He had made that clear when he rounded on Spring and gave him the dressing down of his life with no regard to the audience, and the Ursians had simply let him. A similar lecture had been given to Bonnie later and both Rabbits agreed that they did _not_ want to get on the Ardrawn's radar again.

 _That little Bear can be scary as_ hell _when he wants to be._

Goldie nodded slightly. "Yeah, good idea... if you find him, just come get Freddy," he added, glancing towards his brother. Freddy frowned slightly at him but didn't protest or contradict his words.

"Right, right," Spring agreed half-heartedly, looking back at the mussed grass. "But it's hard to track something that left no tracks."

"Nonsense, everything leaves a track," Fredric dismissed, walking around to the other side of the tree. "You just have to look for it."

Spring shared a look with his brother. "Well yeah, but there's no _clear_ track."

One of the bears clapped him on the shoulder, causing the golden rabbit to stumble. "That's why you three are doin' it," Goldie declared brightly before walking away. Spring grumbled and rubbed his shoulder, ignoring Bonnie's snickers.

"I'll come with you guys, too," Jeremy offered, standing up from his spot finally. "I'm not much in the tracking department but my dad took me hunting a few times."

"Join the party," Bonnie shrugged, walking around the tree as well. Spring followed, eying the ground. Fredric was kneeling down, running his fingers through the grass. "Find anything, fellow colonist?"

"Actually, yes, yes I did. It's under the grass."

Frowning, Spring knelt down to look, pushing the grass aside. He was careful not to rip the grass out and ruin whatever track was there. It took him a moment, but he found that Fredric was right; there _was_ a track. However, it was unlike anything Spring had ever seen in his life.

"Was this thing walking on pegs or something?" he snorted, observing the deep stab-like markings in the ground.

"Probably shouldn't make fun of it," Mangle warned, eying the ground warily. "Peg legs or not, it was clearly strong enough to cart off the bunny."

Spring paused and looked up at Bonnie, was was looking at the fox with confusion. "... Did you really just call him a bunny?"

"Yes, I did, and if you don't like that you can suck it. He's small, cute, and fluffy; therefore he is a bunny."

"The Easter bunny," Jeremy tossed in, but it held no significance to Spring so he dismissed it.

"Cute and fluffy isn't exactly how I would describe a Lapinian," the golden Rabbit muttered, straightening up. "But small is a big keyword there, Mangle. Carrying a Lapinian off wouldn't be a difficult feat."

"But to carry someone off in the middle of the night without making a single sound or waking anyone up _despite the fact_ that Blu was struggling is a huge warning sign," Fredric stated, prompting Spring to look over at him. The Bear's icy eyes were trained on the ground and he had started walking away- following the trail, Spring realized. "We don't know what's around us or what any... _natives_ might want, so it's best to assume that whatever is happening right now is bad."

"Basically, it's best to assume that Bandi is in danger," Jeremy summarized. Fredric frowned and looked up at Jeremy.

"Yes, it's best to assume that _Blu_ is in danger."

Why he kept emphasizing that word- name- whatever, Spring didn't know. However, instead of questioning it, he sighed and went to follow the Bear.

None of them spoke, simply falling into step and walking after the Bear, whose attention was on the trail that had been left behind.

They ran into a snag, however, when the Bear just stopped. "What's the hold up?" Mangle questioned worriedly, looking towards Fredric for explanation. Fredric frowned and looked back at them, looking both frustrated and confused. Glancing towards the ground, Spring had a feeling he knew exactly what the Ardrawn was about to say.

"It's just... stopped."

"Stopped?" Bonnie repeated.

"Yes, _stopped,"_ Fredric confirmed, irritation slipping into his voice. "As in, the trail ends here, in the middle of nothing."

"That doesn't make sense," Jeremy sighed, looking around. "They can't have just disappeared, right?"

Spring and Bonnie shared a look, frowning. Spring could remember, distantly, watching a certain Lapinian soldier "disappear" into thin air. It wasn't that uncommon, he knew; many societies had that technology.

"Could have," Spring voiced, keeping his eyes on his brother. "Teleportation, or something like that. It's common technology among the more advanced planets."

Bonnie nodded slightly in agreement and they both looked back towards the Bear, Fox, and Human. "If the footprints just disappear, it's safe to assume they have that technology."

"But it's kind of weird," Spring started, crossing his arms. "The tracks aren't Lapinian or Ursian, which are the only two groups with _that_ technology I can think of that would have any interest in getting the Lapinian off of this planet..."

"If it was either of them, they'd have taken the Ursians, too," Bonnie added with a shrug, "so I suppose the top suspects are out."

"Forgive us, but we're colonists, we're not very well versed in any other advanced societies," Spring sighed, leaning his weight on his left leg and glancing towards the canopy above. He noted a distinct "hole" in the leaves. "Pretty sure there are those, ah... what were they called..."

"It doesn't matter," Fredric sighed. "We have an idea of _what_ happened, and we know it probably wasn't a... local."

"It kinda makes you think, doesn't it?" Mangle hummed in thought, frowning around at all of them. "If someone with that kind of technology came in and grabbed Bandi, does that mean they've been watching us this whole time?"

"Or maybe they're the ones who put us here," Jeremy added quietly, causing the three colonists to pause.

"That... would explain a lot," Fredric agreed unhappily. "It would certainly explain how all of us got here, and how we all speak this... uh... English language."

"But what would be the point of that?"

None of them answered. Spring and Bonnie shared another uneasy look. "The longer we're here, the more suspicious all of this seems," his brother stated, turning to look at the others again. "I don't like this."

"Neither do I," Spring seconded, huffing softly. "Should we go get the Ursians, tell them what's happened?"

"Probably," Jeremy nodded, frowning to himself. "I mean, this could be bad for _everyone,_ if we're being watched."

"Then let's head back," Mangle decided, straightening up. "The Bears are the most familiar with technology like this, anyway, maybe they'll know some... I dunno, trick to find out who or what did it."

"I highly doubt that," Bonnie snorted, but Spring just shrugged. It wasn't like they themselves knew how it even worked, who were they to say the Ursians couldn't figure something like that out?

 _Getting the Ursians would be best._

As the group of five turned to head back to the campsite, however, a loud _bang!_ sounded from their left, causing all of them to jump and look in that direction. Jeremy shifted uneasily; whatever had made the sound was on the other side of a thick growth of bushes, which looked more like fluffy trees if one were to ask Spring...

"Should we, uh... check that?" the Human questioned, glancing around at the more "primitive" beings. "What if...?"

With a shrug, Bonnie strode towards the bushes and began pushing his way through them. Spring wanted to lecture him about _safety,_ but his brother was gone before he could even open his mouth.

"Guess so," Mangle answered, following after the purple Rabbit.

"My brother's an idiot," Spring deadpanned, choosing to walk _around_ the bush- he wasn't about to get an alien rash just because he walked through a _bush,_ thank you very much. Apparently, Fredric and the Human agreed, as they followed him instead.

As they rounded the bush, carefully making their way through a gap between the bush and a tree, they found themselves just yards from the river. That was... strange. Spring was so sure they had been going _away_ from the river.

Looking around, he located his brother and the Fox. Both of them were looking around as well, clearly having not found the source of the sound. Quickly, the golden Rabbit made his way over to them.

"Yeah, brilliant move, walk through an alien bush," he hissed to Bonnie the moment he was close enough. Bonnie barely gave him a glance.

"It was faster," he stated simply. "I don't see the source of the sound. Maybe it-"

"Blu!"

Blinking, Spring looked behind him to find the Bear dash into the water, heading towards the opposite bank. He followed the other colonist's path with his eyes, allowing his gaze to land on something blue on the other side. From that distance he couldn't make out what it was, but it _did_ look suspiciously like the colour of the Lapinian's fur.

Jeremy and Mangle both were quick to follow the Bear, and Spring and Bonnie shared a look before moving to follow at a much slower pace. The moment his foot hit the water, Spring hissed.

"It's _freezing,"_ he complained quietly to Bonnie, but Bonnie didn't pay his complaint any mind. Spring huffed and followed his brother to the other side, letting his annoyance be clear.

However, when they reached the other side and were able to clearly see that yes, the mass of blue _was_ in fact the missing Lapinian, he let his annoyance at Bonnie drop in favour of annoyance at the Lapinian.

The Lapinian was still breathing. That was a good thing, Spring supposed. He was breathing and lying on his side, eyes closed and body relaxed. It looked like he was just asleep.

"Still have no idea what made that sound," Bonnie pointed out as they watched Fredric try to rouse the unconscious Rabbit. "I mean, it couldn't have been him."

"I find it suspicious that he happened to be right _here,"_ Spring voiced, watching as the Lapinian's eyes fluttered open. Something didn't look right with them, though; the Lapinian shifted and turned his head to look at all of them. His eyes looked somewhat... dazed.

Fredric sighed. "Suspicious or not," he started, pulling the Rabbit into a sitting position, "at least he's alive." The Bear began checking the Lapinian for injuries. "Where the hell have you been, Blu?"

The little blue Rabbit didn't respond, instead looking around at all of them. Spring was starting to get the feeling that he had no idea what was going on at all.

"Hey," Bonnie suddenly started, stepping towards the Lapinian. Spring glanced at him, noting the way his brow furrowed. "Ardrawn, his hands..."

The Bear blinked and looked towards the Rabbit's hands, then he carefully grabbed his left wrist and lifted it, flipping it over so that the palm was facing up.

There was nothing there.

"The hell...?" Bonnie muttered, staring at that empty hand. Spring was just confused.

"What?" Mangle questioned, clearly as confused as Spring was.

Fredric lifted the Rabbit's other hand, finding it was just as clear and empty as the other. "His hands were completely torn up yesterday," Fredric explained distantly, looking at the Rabbit again. "Blu, what...?"

Blinking, the Rabbit looked at Fredric. "Red," he muttered, as though just registering who it was in front of him. Why he called the Bear red, Spring had no idea. He looked more brown than red... "The nice porcelain guy helped," he added. Spring and Bonnie looked at each other, each with a raised brow. _Porcelain guy?_ "I was scared at first but he was really nice. Took the pain away..."

"Is he on painkillers?" Jeremy muttered, kneeling down to look at the Lapinian. "He seems a bit... off."

"To say the least," Bonnie muttered, turning back to look at the Rabbit. "We should get back to the campsite. I don't know what the fuck is going on but whatever it is I'm sure the assholes back there will want to know."

"Agreed," Mangle sighed. "Come on."

Releasing one of the Rabbit's wrists, Fredric pulled him to his feet. Almost immediately, the Lapinian overbalanced, and Fredric and Mangle both caught him. "Guess we're acting as crutches, huh?" Mangle snorted, looping their arm around the Lapinian's back. Fredric did the same, keeping a steadying hand on the Rabbit's shoulder.

"Let's just go."

* * *

The sound of the door opening prompted both scientists to look up from the screen, frowning as a Human walked into the room.

"Dominic," the Bear greeted, raising an inquiring brow at him. "To what do we owe the... pleasure?"

"I came to check the status of the experiment," Dominic answered simply, eying the Bear and Rabbit.

Bonsha and Shafred shared a look. _We shouldn't mention the unexpected development,_ Bonsha silently noted. Thankfully, his companion seemed to understand and agree.

"The experiment is going well," Shafred answered after a few seconds of silent conversation. "They are working together rather well, though have been butting heads on a few... occasions."

Dominic frowned and approached the screen. Bonsha subtly reached behind him and slid his finger around it, changing the view on the screen from the search party and the Lapinian over to the Avians searching for any sign of something to use as food. When the Human stopped and looked down at the screen, the Rabbit and Bear turned around to look as well.

"Are the Crystals Active?" Dominic inquired, glancing towards Bonsha.

"Of course not," Bonsha answered, raising a brow. "None of them have entered the Caves, and we certainly have not activated them."

"Activate them," Dominic commanded. Bonsha and Shafred looked at each other. Although Bonsha would never admit it or let it show, he was... surprised. Shocked, even.

"Dominic," Shafred started, looking back towards the Human. "Activating the Crystals may as well be signing their death warrants. You know what happened the last time they were Active."

"The entire planet was wiped out," Bonsha added unhelpfully, crossing his arms. "And those were the indigenous people who _knew_ how the planet worked. These subjects don't stand a chance."

"I'm sorry," Dominic started, his voice practically dripping with venom, "but this is an experiment about _survival._ There are three colonists and two Ursians there, of course they'll know how to make a shelter and survive off of the land." Dominic turned his dead stare to Bonsha again, and Bonsha tensed up. He _hated_ when Dominic looked at him like that. "Give them something to survive. Activate the Crystals."

"That's interference in the experiment," Shafred protested, scowling at the Human.

"No," Dominic chuckled, turning to Shafred. Bonsha relaxed slightly, glad to have those eyes off of him. "It's just controlling the variable. This is an experiment, Shafred; _we_ control the variables. And one of those variables is the Crystals. I'm heading this experiment, and I want them _Active._ Am I clear?"

What could either of them say? The Human had just pulled rank with them. Bonsha and Shafred glanced towards each other again, but they nodded slightly. "Of course," Shafred confirmed, looking towards the screen again. "We'll activate the Crystals at the earliest opportunity."

"Good," Dominic chuckled again, though his voice lacked any amusement. It was a chilling sound, but Bonsha didn't dare let his unease show. "I'll check in again in three days. The Crystals _better_ be Active," he warned, turning on his heel and walking away. He paused at the door and glanced over his shoulder at them. "You know the price for insubordination." Then he was gone and the doors _whooshed_ shut behind him.

Bonsha turned to the screen again, scowling and tense. "This was supposed to be observational," he hissed, reaching to the screen and "pulling" it to the left, far away from the Avians and to the mouth of a cave. "It even states _observational_ in the documentation. We're not supposed to interfere."

"I know," Shafred assured him, staring blankly at the screen. "But we have no choice. However... you know this now gives us loopholes." Bonsha glanced at him with a raised brow, but Shafred didn't expand on his words. Instead, the Bear said, "Hopefully their... _guest_ will be willing to help them. He remembers, after all."

Bonsha looked back at the screen, frowning. "Yes," he agreed, pressing his fingertips against the screen and fanning them out. It zoomed in on the mouth of the cave. "He remembers. He was there, after all."

"He was willing to save the Lapinian's hands."

"I have a feeling, Shafred, that their guest knows more about this experiment than either you or I do."

"You're saying the Tepuppian foresaw this development."

Bonsha looked up to find Shafred's black eyes on him. The gaze was void of any emotion, and Bonsha silently struggled to be sure his own silver gaze was the same. He nodded simply and turned back to the screen, resting his hand on the screen's edge. _There is no other answer, Shafred._

 _Perhaps the ones who know the least about this is us._


	9. A Drugged Bunny is Hard to Keep Eyes On

Sorry that this is a bit "fillerish"

* * *

Bonnie glanced in the direction of the three Bears, who were talking in suspiciously low voices. Whatever they were discussing, obviously the rest of them weren't privy to it.

Sighing, he looked over towards his brother, who was simply lying on the grass and staring at the canopy above. Both Foxes and Chickens were gone, and the Humans were working on the "floor" that the Bears had set them to do. That left Bonnie and Spring to keep an eye on Cator.

Why they left the Lacatrans to do it, Bonnie had _no_ idea whatsoever. He glanced back towards the blue Rabbit, who had been muttering to himself in an unintelligible language for the last ten minutes or so. He was clearly completely out of it, so it wasn't like they needed to worry about him walking off-

 _I stand corrected._

He simply watched as the younger Rabbit suddenly leapt to his feet, stumbling slightly as he did so, and walked right past Bonnie's brother. Spring lifted his head, watching Cator with a raised brow before looking to Bonnie. Bonnie just shrugged before turning to follow the Rabbit, sighing in annoyance.

"Come back here, Cator," he called, but the Rabbit gave no sign of hearing him; instead, he walked onwards, away from the campsite. Bonnie grew uneasy as he realized _where_ the Rabbit was heading. "Seriously," he muttered darkly, hurrying after the teen.

However, as they reached the small clearing where the vine was strung up, the Rabbit walked right past the vine and to the other side of the clearing. Bonnie paused, watching as he picked... _something_ up. It was a vine strung up between two separate branches, which were tied together with another vine. He frowned, watching as the teen turned around and headed towards the strung-up vine.

"What are you doing," he deadpanned, but as expected he got no response. Instead, the Rabbit began carefully... _carving_ the wood, removing sharp edges and knots. Bonnie didn't like how close to the Rabbit's fingers that vine got, so he walked over to the Rabbit and pulled him away. "Stop."

Blinking, Cator looked up at him. His eyes looked rather distant and somewhat glazed. It was concerning on its own, but paired with everything else Bonnie now knew it spelled disaster. "Oh," the Rabbit muttered, tilting his head at Bonnie. "Your eyes are red."

"Er..." Bonnie glanced towards the edge of the clearing, where the golden Rabbit had stopped and crossed his arms, just watching them. "Yeah?"

"Red's a nice colour." Cator turned back towards the vine, trying half-heartedly to pull away from Bonnie's grip and continue doing... whatever it was he was doing. "No one on Lapinia has red eyes. Only blue or green... or brown... or silver... never red or yellow..."

The Rabbit was rambling, he realized. He didn't loosen his grip. "Drop the thing and just get back to the campsite, Cator," he commanded, somewhat irritated. "You're gonna hurt yourself _again_ out here."

"I need to... to finish this," Cator protested. "It'll make Red's job easier..."

"Finish it later, get back to camp, _now,"_ he hissed, feeling _so_ done with the Rabbit right then. Cator suddenly stilled, his ears flattening and gaze dropping.

"Camp? We're not on Lapinia," the Rabbit muttered, clearly to himself, as he began turning the... thing over in his hands, his eyes firmly on it. "There are no camps here... can't make me go..."

"For the love of-" he paused and looked over towards his brother, gesturing the golden Rabbit over. Spring rolled his eyes before approaching them. "Help me get this idiot back to the campsite. And don't touch those vines, that's what tore his hands up in the first place," he added in a mutter, glancing back down at Cator.

"How'd a vine tear up his hands?" Spring questioned, grabbing the "tool" or whatever out of the blue Rabbit's hands. Cator made a displeased sound, but he didn't try to stop the golden Rabbit. "It's a vine."

"This planet's weird," was the only thing Bonnie could say, pushing Cator back towards the treeline to head back to the camp. "The river runs freezing on a hundred-degree day, wind can collapse trees, there's apparently a gigantic underground cavern, and who know what the hell else there is about this planet, a vine that can double as a weapon shouldn't be that much of a surprise." Spring just shrugged and followed after Bonnie and Cator, looking at the crudely-carved tool.

"Was he trying to make a saw?" he asked, lightly tugging on the vine. He winced and quickly drew his hand back. "Okay, _that_ hurt."

"I said don't touch it," Bonnie admonished, eying his brother's finger. He could just barely see the blood beed through his fur. "Believe me now?"

"Well, now I think it's definitely a saw," Spring muttered, popping his finger in his mouth.

"Of course it's a saw," Cator mumbled distantly, staring around at the trees they passed. "It's ridiculous to think a decent shelter big enough for everyone can be built out of the branches that've fallen... saw lets us control, uh, the uh... lengths and size... uh... what were we talking about again?"

Bonnie and Spring glanced at each other. _Totally out of it._

"Everyone knows what a saw does, Cator," Bonnie told him, directing him into the campsite. Freddy caught sight of them and raised a brow. Next to him, Fredric frowned over at them. Goldie seemed to have little concern; he was helping the Humans with the "floor" of the yet-to-be-built shelter. "I'm sure we know better than you do, anyway."

"Probably," the Rabbit conceded, blinking as Fredric walked over to them.

Fredric caught sight of the makeshift saw in Spring's hand and raised a brow at Cator. "You were over with those death vines again?" he questioned, clearly displeased by that. Bonnie frowned, wondering how exactly Fredric knew about those.

Then he remembered that the Bear had been the one to retrieve him that first day.

"It's almost finished," Cator muttered, his gaze slipping off to the side. "It's gonna rain tonight, yeah?"

"Er..." They all shared a look. "We don't know that," Fredric answered, taking the Rabbit's arm and leading him over to a tree to sit him down again. "Just... stay here."

"The air is wet," the Rabbit muttered, just barely loud enough for them to hear. "That means rain..."

"Perhaps," Fredric allowed, straightening up. "We'll see," he added as he turned around.

"Red," Cator started suddenly, watching Fredric head back towards Freddy. The Bear paused and looked back at the Rabbit. Bonnie couldn't see his expression, but he did catch the slight head tilt, inviting Cator to continue speaking. "The porcelain guy... said... something about not... don't go to the caves... and avoid the shadows when the moons are red..."

Bonnie shared a look with Spring, but neither really had anything they could say. His words made no sense to them.

"Right," Fredric agreed slowly, obviously just as confused as they were. "I'll... keep that in mind." Then he headed back over to Freddy to continue their conversation.

The blue Rabbit leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes, breathing in deeply. Bonnie exchanged a perturbed look with Spring; something really didn't seem right about this- at all.

Figuring that the Rabbit had fallen asleep, Spring flopped back down into the grass, observing the strange saw-thing in his hands. "When did he make this, anyway?" he questioned, turning the tool over in his hands. He was careful to avoid the vines pulled tautly between.

Sitting down next to him, Bonnie shrugged. "I dunno," he answered, plucking it out of his brother's hands to look at it. He ran his fingers over the wood, noting the Rabbit hadn't chipped the bark away from where the vines were tied off. "What concerns me is _how,"_ he added, tapping his finger against the bark where the vine was tied. "I don't see how he could have tied this except-"

"-with his hands," Spring finished and Bonnie nodded, frowning at the tool.

 _Actually,_ he noted, _something looks strange here._ He stared at the wood but nothing stuck out to him, so he just shook his head and set it on the ground. "Whatever," he sighed, "not our problem."

"Whatever you say, brother."

"Hey," a voice suddenly interrupted and they turned to look over at Goldie. "If you're done fetching a wandering Rabbit, one of you mind lending us a hand here?"

With a half-hearted shrug, Spring pushed himself up to his feet. "Yeah, sure," he agreed, purposefully kicking Bonnie's foot as he passed. Bonnie stuck his tongue but the golden Rabbit wasn't watching him, instead dropping down next to the Bear and Humans to continue weaving the "floor" together.

Sighing, Bonnie turned to look at Cator again.

"Oh for _fuck's sake,"_ he growled to himself, shoving himself to his feet. _He's gone again!_

"I am so over this," he complained, stalking over to the tree and glaring at the ground. The Rabbit's footprints were deeper than usual and uneven, telling Bonnie that he definitely wasn't steady. "Need to just tie him to the stupid tree," he added, following the footprints into the woods beyond.

He almost laughed as the footprints led straight into a tree but he wasn't happy in the least, so he just kept on going, ignoring the little things the drugged Rabbit had obviously stumbled into or over. There were strange, random pauses in the footprints, too, as though the Rabbit had paused to do something or other. He didn't stop to try and figure out what those might have been, though.

What _did_ stop him was a sound.

Pausing, Bonnie looked around, ears twitching as he caught the sound of... an... instrument? He wasn't sure, but Bonnie could have _sworn_ he'd just heard a Chaska. Deciding to investigate, the purple Rabbit headed in the direction that the tentative sound came from. As he got closer, he knew for _sure_ he heard something. Not quite a Chaska but... similar. It clearly had strings, but it wasn't _quite_ the right sound.

It wasn't bad, though, and that _really_ got his attention.

He moved quietly and carefully towards the source, his ears twitching as he caught something else; a voice. It didn't take a genius to realize _whose_ voice it was.

Satisfied that he had located the Rabbit, he headed forwards, but when he reached the clearing the Rabbit was in he paused. Cator sat in the middle of the clearing, a strangely rigged-up device in his hands that definitely resembled a Chaska.

 _Wait, when the_ hell _did he make that?_

Briefly, he thought about the strange stutters and pauses in the track. _Maybe those tracks up to the tree wasn't a mistake after all..._

He didn't dwell on it, however; he was sick and _tired_ of this Rabbit wandering off on his own, so he stepped forwards and approached Cator, scowling. However, before he even reached the Rabbit, Cator suddenly burst into giddy laughter and dropped down on his back, staring at the sky above.

"Ah, danno se," the Rabbit muttered, closing his eyes. "Danno se tu rren kayo..."

He was speaking Lapinian, Bonnie realized. He had _no_ idea whatsoever what the Rabbit was saying, however, and he had absolutely no interest in dwelling on it. He stopped next to the Rabbit, leaning over and looking down at him. The shadow cast across the other Rabbit's face must have clued Cator in that he wasn't alone as he opened his eyes, staring blankly up towards him.

"The hell are you doing out here?" Bonnie asked flatly, staring down at the younger Rabbit. Cator tilted his head slightly.

"You know," Cator suddenly started, "you'd look really nice if you smiled more. But that would make me a hypocrite, wouldn't it?" He let out a sudden giggle and closed his eyes again. "Can't tell someone else to smile when you can't smile yourself..."

"Rabbit, you're loopy," Bonnie deadpanned. "Get up."

"The sun is here."

"Yeah, it's daytime, I know. Get up."

"No... the sun is here, not there," he muttered, barely opening his left eye to look up at him. "It's nicer here..."

"Cator," he growled, "Get. Up."

The Rabbit paused and squinted at him, as if trying to figure out who or what he was, and then he sighed. "Fine," he grumbled, moving his makeshift-Chaska out of the way so he could push himself up. "One more person bossing me around, nothing new there..."

Bonnie crossed his arms impatiently, straightening up as he watched the Rabbit stumble to his feet. When he was on his feet again, Bonnie grabbed his arm and pulled him along back in the direction of the campsite. This time no one glanced at them as they returned; either they hadn't noticed or they figured it was Cator just being Cator.

To say the least, Bonnie was incredibly unhappy as he forced Cator back to his tree. "Stay there this time," he commanded, glaring at the Rabbit. Cator just rolled his eyes and settled back against the tree, fiddling with the Chaska again. Whatever he was on seemed to be wearing off; he was noticeably calmer.

Bonnie walked several feet away and dropped down, this time facing the flighty Rabbit. _This time I'll make damn sure you keep your tail right there._

* * *

"Hey, bro, wake up."

Bonnie groaned and batted at his brother's hand, turning over and burying his face in the grass.

"Brother, seriously, wake the fuck up."

"No," he grumbled. "Too early..."

"It's mid-afternoon, Mr. Sentry."

 _Huh?_

Blinking, Bonnie opened his eyes and peered blearily up at his brother. "Huh?"

Spring frowned at hm. "Bonnie," he started, "when did you fall asleep?"

Bonnie fell silent. _Wait, I fell asleep? Oh hell-_

"Why didn't you wake me earlier?!" he yelped, jerking up into a sitting position. _I wasn't supposed to fall asleep!_

"I didn't even know you were asleep!" Spring protested, holding his hands up defensively. "I was just asking so we could get a handle on when the Lapinian walked off again."

Bonnie groaned and fell back into the grass, covering his eyes. "Spring, I am so _done_ chasing him around," he complained.

"Yeah, you've said that multiple times since this morning," Spring snorted. "The Bears are searching for him now. Either he got snatched or he figured out finally how to cover his tracks because we have _no_ clue where he went."

"Dammit," he groaned, pushing himself up again. "This is _seriously_ the last time I go out to drag him back here, got it?"

"I have a feeling that isn't as true as either of us would like," Spring snorted, helping his brother up off of the ground. "Fredric's made it pretty damn clear if the Lapinian dies because of us, we're toast- whatever _that_ means. I _believe_ it's a threat, though. I think those two are friends."

"Or as close to friends as you can be after just two days," Bonnie grumbled, dusting his pants off. "For the record, I didn't even know I fell asleep."

"I figured," Spring sighed, glancing up towards the sky. "Good luck," he added almost sarcastically as he headed out into the woods again.

Bonnie growled to himself and stalked in a random direction. _I dunno,_ he thought, _the drug or whatever it was was wearing off last I remember. I thought it was, anyway..._

Choosing not to dwell on it, he made his way towards the river. He figured if the Rabbit got lost that would be the place he'd wander to- water was, generally speaking, safe, and he could easily just follow it until he was somewhere he recognized.

If he was even capable of recognizing forest landmarks, anyway.

When Bonnie reached the river, however, he found that the Rabbit was already there.

Frowning, he glanced down at the ground. There were no tracks... so _how_ did he get there? He glanced briefly at the branches above but he quickly dismissed the thought; there was no way a Rabbit from Lapinia could or would do _that..._

 _Whatever,_ he decided as he began approaching the Rabbit, but then the Rabbit did something... weird, to say the least.

He pulled his shirt off.

Bonnie paused, furrowing his brow at the action. Cator didn't seem aware of his presence as he fiddled with the shirt in his hand, coming to a stop at a very noticeable stain on it. He heard the Rabbit heave a sigh and carefully fold the shirt over, then he...

Lowered it into the water.

Bonnie watched him scrub at the stain with his hands, knowing already that it wouldn't work. Stains like that never came out, no matter how hard you scrubbed, and he wasn't even doing it properly.

 _Better than nothing,_ Bonnie supposed, raising a brow at the Rabbit. The fur that had previously been hidden by his shirt was just as blue as the rest of him (though Bonnie couldn't tell from that distance, he thought there might be small splotches of paler blue near the small of his back) and not very well groomed. Of course, Bonnie couldn't say anything on that latter part; all of them had been stuck on that planet for a couple nights, it wasn't like they could-

Something wasn't right.

He frowned, watching the smaller Rabbit as he tried to scrub the stain out. Something didn't look right about his back to Bonnie. In fact, something looked downright _wrong._

Slowly, he approached the Rabbit, his bare feet padding softly against the dirt and the grass. The Rabbit's ears twitched and he knew that Cator knew that he was there; undoubtedly the Rabbit had heard his less-quiet approach. However, Cator didn't so much as glance at him or question his presence.

Bonnie stopped right behind the younger Rabbit, frowning as he stared down at his back. The fur looked... _ruffled_ in ways that it shouldn't have been, growing thick and almost _rough_ around his shoulder blades and the base of his neck. Narrowing his eyes, Bonnie knelt down to get a closer look, staring intently at the fur.

The fur was in disarray, as though something was impeding it. It looked... suspicious, to say the least.

 _That fur is hiding something._

"What are you doing, Lacatran?" Cator questioned boredly, not even looking towards him as he focused on the shirt in the water.

"Stay still," Bonnie commanded, reaching forward to brush the fur back and look at whatever it was his fur what hiding. As soon as his hand made contact, however, the Rabbit jerked away with a startled, if not _frightened,_ yelp.

Unfortunately for Cator, the direction he jerked was _forwards,_ sending him careening right into the shallow water.

Bonnie stared somewhat in shock as the Rabbit quickly pushed himself onto his knees, coughing up the water he had swallowed.

"What the _hell?"_ Cator almost shrieked, looking up at him from his place in the water. His eyes were wide but his jaw was set, tense. He looked a strange mixture of angry, embarrassed, and _scared._ "Y-you don't just touch someone like that!"

"Sorry," Bonnie instinctively responded, frowning as the Rabbit pushed himself to his feet, the water dripping from his fur and pants. It occurred to Bonnie that the water was nearly freezing temperatures on a hot day- there was no way standing there soaking wet was good for the health.

Cator was no idiot, of course (despite what Bonnie and Spring would _like_ to think), and had already deduced that; he pulled himself back up onto the shore. He wasn't holding his shirt anymore; when he had fallen in, his grip had loosened and the lazy current had taken it.

"What were you even _doing?"_ Cator repeated, this time sounding _much_ more upset about Bonnie's trespass.

"Your fur," he answered vaguely. Cator raised a brow at him, clearly indicating that that answer wasn't good enough. "On your back. It doesn't look right."

Blinking, the blue Rabbit stared at him for several silent seconds, his expression morphing into disbelief and a cold anger. "You have no business in that," he muttered, swiftly turning away to seek out the shirt in the water. The current wouldn't have taken it far, after all.

However, as he turned around, Bonnie glanced towards the soaked fur. It was clinging together, showing random patches of the pinkish-tan skin beneath its blue. More importantly, though, it bared to the Lacatran the jagged scars of a knife.

The worst scars were on the Rabbit's shoulder blades, but a glance over showed Bonnie that there were scars all over the teen's back. Each scar that he could see was purposeful and not made with a skilled hand; clearly whoever had done it wasn't really used to handling a knife.

Cator began hurrying down the bank, apparently having spotted his shirt. Bonnie didn't follow. He stared at the spot the younger had been standing, thinking about everything he knew about the other Rabbit. About how he hated Lapinia, how he hated his _parents..._ and now, he couldn't help but wonder...

 _What did they do to him?_


	10. Campfire Conversation

**A/N** : I'm sorry for not keeping up with fanfiction! :(

* * *

Glancing around, the black rabbit walked towards the cave. The violet bear was by his side, but part of him couldn't help but feel nervous.

Knowing what happened in those woods... and knowing that they were about to unleash that horror again... Bonsha didn't like it. However, he couldn't voice his concerns; he was one of _them,_ he should have no concerns for the subjects on the planet's surface.

That didn't change the way he felt, though.

"This place has a very... eerie feel to it," Shafred commented and Bonsha simply nodded in agreement as they stepped into the cave.

Not even ten yards inside the cavern was a dull grey crystal, sitting on a stone pedestal. It dwarfed the two Animals, standing at twice their height- which was impressive, considering Shafred was nearly seven feet tall.

Pale eyes scanning the surroundings, Bonsha quickly located a hole in the wall. It was small, almost too small for even a Lapinian to crawl into, but that was fine; Bonsha knew exactly what he had to do. The tight space wouldn't bother him.

"There," he pointed it out to his companion, and without waiting for a response he walked over to it. Inside the hole it was dark- pitch black, if one were to ask Bonsha- but he wasn't afraid of shadows. With hardly any consideration, he climbed up into the hole and crawled through it. "I'll be right back."

"Right," Shafred's voice echoed through the narrow passage. Bonsha continued crawling through, resisting the urge to shudder as _things_ dripped on him and the rough stone cut through the knees of his pants and the palms of his hands. That was fine, though, he could deal.

Then the narrow tunnel came to an end and the walls were no longer brushing against his fur. Carefully standing to his feet, he glanced around the dark, dank cavern, wrinkling his nose as the scent of rot and decay hit him.

Swiftly pulling a small object from his pocket, he threw it up into the air and it lit up, reflecting off of the crystals on the ceiling. Red, blue, green, violet and silver shone down on him, but he didn't let the colours distract him; in the center of the "room" was another crystal, this one much smaller- about waist height, he noticed- and pure white.

Taking a deep breath and instantly regretting it, he walked across the muck-covered ground and stopped directly in front of the white crystal. Its surface was smooth and unblemished- clearly not a natural phenomena.

 _And so history repeats itself,_ he thought forlornly as he pulled something else out of his pocket. Pressing a button, a beam shot out from it, stabilizing almost instantly; it was silver. Acting quickly, Bonsha placed the light against his palm, feeling its heat on his skin, and drew it along his palm- deep and painful, but that was alright. Immediately blood pooled out from the cut, and Bonsha simply turned his hand over, letting it fall onto the white crystal.

He watched as the blood ran down in small rivers, sinking into the crystal's surface, and the red began to spread over and through the crystal. Releasing the button on the hilt, the blade of light dissipated and Bonsha headed for the passage again.

When the last spot of white was gone... well... the caves were the last place anyone wanted to be.

* * *

It did, in fact, rain that evening.

The water droplets falling from the sky were almost shockingly cold, and in the distance Blu could hear thunder rolling. He stared up curiously at the sky from his place in the clearing he had located before, finding it almost mesmerizing to watch the heavens above.

The clouds lit up, followed closely by the thunder. The water fell in sheets, soaking him through to the bone. He was freezing, but... it felt...

Different.

Exciting.

"Blu," he heard Red hiss to him, grabbing his arm and yanking him to the relative safety of the trees. "You'll get sick if you just stand out there."

"It's so cool," Blu muttered, just barely loud enough for Red to hear. His eyes scanned over the soaked ground, watching the puddles reflect the darkening sky. He could feel the freezing water seep into his shoes, which were still wet from his tumble into the river just earlier. "Is it really allowed to just... fall where it wants?"

"It's rain, Blu," Red started, confusion lacing his tone. "It wants for nothing and is under no one's control." Carefully, he pulled Blu along with him towards the hastily-built shelter. Even under the thick canopy of the forest, the rain managed to drizzle down to them. Two concerned Bears and a Human were watching, waiting for them, from the temporary shelter.

"Not on my planet," Blu sighed, his gaze firmly on the rain even as Red pushed him under the awning. "I've never seen it before..."

"You've never seen rain before?" Mike questioned, raising a brow at Blu. Glancing at the Human, Blu just shook his head before looking back out to the rain.

He was dimly aware of Red pushing him towards the fire pit, saying something about drying out.

"How?" This time one of the Foxes asked. "Even inside our domes we get rain..."

"Same," the Chickens chorused. Blu didn't bother looking at them as he answered.

"That's because your cultures are agriculture based," he told them, allowing Red to pull him down by the fire. "Your governments recognize that precipitation is necessary for all segments of society and devised a means to artificially recreate-"

"English, please," Jeremy cut in, knowing very well that the unnecessarily long words would throw off the non-native speakers, translation program or not.

Rolling his eyes, Blu tore his gaze away from the rain falling outside to look at the fire. Over its crackling he could hear the droplets slamming into the wooden and leaf roof. "Basically," he started, "even though you live in domes, you're, uh... still dependent on farms." _How the hell am I supposed to explain this?_ "Lapinia isn't like that," he finished lamely.

"Very informative," the golden Lacatran snorted from where he lounged against his brother. Blu frowned. "Look, not even _Lapinians_ can be _completely_ separated from nature so I call-"

"Actually," Freddy interrupted, glancing at the Lacatrans, "as someone who has actually _been_ to Lapinia, I can verify that they don't have natural weather patterns. Nor do they have natural disasters nor natural wonders."

"The most natural thing on Lapinia are the oxygen factories," Goldie added with a laugh, "and even that's not exactly... natural."

"Oxygen factories?" Foxy parroted, raising a brow.

"And how do you not have natural weather?" Red muttered, obviously confused.

Blu mindlessly played with his wet fur, frowning. He didn't want to talk about his planet, but it'd be rude to ignore their questions. It wasn't like their questions would exactly be _harmful,_ anyway. It wasn't like they were asking about Lapinian traditions or culture...

"About six, maybe seven centuries ago a scientist figured out how to control atmospheric properties, and it was perfected four centuries ago," he explained flatly, trying his best to keep annoyance out of his tone. He kept his eyes firmly on his fur. "The planet is completely covered in cities- even the oceans. There's no forests or swamps or anything like that left and it occurred to my ancestors that _maybe_ they _really_ messed up when they remembered, _Oh! Trees make oxygen and we need that to breathe!_ But then, _oh! There's no trees left on the entire damned planet so we're gonna run out of oxygen!_ And so the factories were created using seeds," he finished a little more harshly than he meant to. "They have their own artificial atmospheres and there are, hm, five, I believe, on the entire planet, and through means that are _too complicated for me to care about-"_

"We get it," Goldie cut him off, even though they clearly didn't. The young Rabbit's tone had been steadily becoming harsher and angrier, though; it was best to cut him off before he worked himself up.

Blu let out a sharp breath he hadn't even known he'd been holding. "And thus," he deadpanned, glaring towards the Lacatrans, "no Lapinian in at least four hundred years has actually _experienced_ rain."

"If that's how you guys deal with weather I'd _hate_ to know how else you do things," Mike snorted. Blu chose not to say anything to that, and the group fell into an awkward silence. The thunder, rain, and fire seemed to be the only things brave enough to fill the air with sound.

It was almost calming.

"You know," Chii suddenly started, her tone chipper, "as long as we're stuck here, and we're around a campfire of sorts, and none of us exactly have anywhere else to go, why don't we all get to know each other?"

"Eh?" Blinking, Blu turned his attention to Chii. "What do you mean?"

"Well, we know each others' names, but we don't even know each others' interests or beliefs," she explained. "Or their dreams. Or, you know... anything about each other. Family, friends- stuff like that..."

Another, more comfortable, silence fell around them. The Chicken was right, they knew- none of them really knew each other. It made things tense, awkward even, and on some level Blu realized that he had never _needed_ to "get to know" anyone before.

On Lapinia, all you needed to know was a person's name, occupation, and in certain circumstances, their parentage. He had never once before needed to consider his colleagues' or companions' interests or desires.

 _This is new._

"I think it's a swell idea," Freddy agreed, giving the fidgeting Chicken a gentle smile. "I think it would certainly give us more grounds for trusting one another."

"Ya think?" Foxy snorted, yelping when the white and pink Fox next to him hit his arm. "What?"

"Alright then," Mike agreed, leaning back on his hands and frowning in thought. "Who goes first?"

Another brief silence fell as they all glanced around, none wanting to presume. Blu turned his gaze to the fire, finally realizing just how cold he was as a shiver ran down his spine. His fur was heavy with water, and he started thinking that maybe Red was right about not standing in the rain...

"Who's the oldest?" Chica suggested, glancing around at all of them. "I'm nineteen."

"Same," the Lacatrans chorused.

"Seventeen," Freddy and Goldie informed them.

"Well, I be turnin' twenty-one in a few moons," Foxy put in, leaning on his hand.

As the others discussed their ages, Blu and Red shared a look before snorting. "No way are we in that debate," Red commented to him, and he could only nod in agreement. "How old _are_ you anyway, Blu?" Red asked, voice much quieter now.

"Sixteen," Blu answered in a mumble, glancing over towards the others. It seemed that it had been decided that Foxy was the eldest of them all.

"I'm almost sixteen," Red put in, seeming almost surprised. "I thought you were younger than me."

"Funny, I did too," Blu admitted with an amused little grin. "But I'm not surprised. Lapinians always look young..."

If Red was going to respond, Foxy's voice interfered, and both teens turned back to the one-of-few adults in their midst.

"Well," Foxy started, glancing towards the roof, "I be an only child from the central southern sphere o' New Vulpinia. I be in trainin' to be one o' them folks who goes out on the water an' collects, ah... no English translation," he laughed, leaning back. "Basically I'll be a Seeker."

"A Seeker?" Mike parrotted, sharing a look with Jeremy.

"Aye! Someone who leaves the domes," he explained, shifting and glancing over them. "It's real dangerous but someone has to do it. But anyway!" He seemed to be changing direction, Blu noticed. "Me mates 'nd I like t' volunteer at the dome's theatre and sometimes we act 'r sing fer the little orphan kids."

"Aww, that's so sweet~!" Chii giggled, smiling.

"So what about ye, mate?" Foxy directed, looking towards Mangle. The white fox seemed somewhat surprised to be addressed without warning, but they quickly composed themself, sitting up.

"Oh, me?" Mangle started, laughing somewhat awkwardly. "I'm a student. I live with my mother, father, and my older sister." Blu raised a brow, watching as a strange expression crossed the fox's face, but it was gone within a second.

Though he couldn't be sure, Blu thought it looked like disgust.

"I'm also from the northern west dome," the Fox added, more for Foxy's sake because Blu sure as hell didn't understand it. "And I just generally walk around town, to be honest. Nothing... _else_ to do on the westside."

"Why am I not surprised," Foxy snorted, and Mangle chuckled as well. A glance around showed Blu that he wasn't the only one who was confused. _It must be a cultural reference._

Mangle's amber eyes trailed over to the Chickens and they raised a brow at Chica.

Understanding, the Chicken shrugged and answered, "I'm from the northernmost dome on Avia and I live with my mom and dad. And my aunt, too, but her husband and son died last year in the mines," she added, and Chii visibly winced next to her. No one chose to ask. "I'm in... well, there's no English translation for the word, it seems, but I'm in school studying environment. Um... my friends are a strange lot, they spend most of their time trying to find ways out of the dome so I've kinda been avoiding them, so lately I just stay home studying."

"Your friends are _that_ sort, huh?" Chii questioned, raising a brow, and Chica simply nodded.

"I have no plans to get sent to the mines," Chica stated matter-of-factly, "so I figured it's best to just separate myself from them. Like hell I'm ruining my life."

"Smart choice," Chii agreed with a hum. Blu, again, chose not to ask.

In his mind, he thought of the camps. He didn't need to ask.

"I live with my dad," Chii told them, "in an equatorial eastern dome. I'm still in the government-mandated school system and I plan on becoming a baker and helping those who are in need."

"Noble cause," Freddy complemented and Chii smiled.

"It's what my mother did," she explained. "She was always my role model growing up, so..." She trailed off for a moment, a strange look crossing her face, before hastily looking to the darker-haired Human. "Mike, right?"

"Yeah," Mike confirmed, leaning back. "There's not really much about me," he told them, frowning slightly in thought. "I turn twenty next year, I'm in college for an art degree, and I like going to new and different places and experiencing new cultures."

"What about your family?" Jeremy asked, raising a brow.

"My parents are in Germany and my cousin, um... disappeared a few years back," Mike explained hesitantly, lifting his hand up to the back of his neck. "Geez, I completely forgot... me just disappearing's gonna destroy them..."

They allowed the silence to fall for a few seconds, but Mike was quick to turn his gaze to Jeremy. "What about you, huh?"

"Me?" Jeremy seemed almost surprised. "Ah... um... well, I live with my adoptive mother and father," he started, ignoring the raise brows that got, "and I have no siblings, but I have two cats named Mili and Ali-Cal- stop laughing, Mike- and a dog named Snuffer- I said stop laughing!"

"Sorry," Mike wheezed. Why he had just suddenly burst into laughter, Blu had no idea. "It's just- _Ali-Cal and Snuffer?!"_

Jeremy threw a nut at Mike's face- _when did those get there?-_ before continuing, "I'm studying engineering at a local tech school in my town, and I spend my weekends writing stories, poetry and music. Well, what about you guys?" He directed his gaze towards the Bear twins.

"Answer separately," Bonnie tossed in, twirling a random stick between his fingers. _Where'd he get a stick? Oh, well- we're only in a forest, Blu, duh..._

Goldie stuck his tongue out while Freddy just chuckled and answered, "Well, we- I'm sorry, I am a student in my last year of Systematic Training. I'm actually training to become an Ursian ambassador. I live with my parents, my brother here, and three younger brothers who are all triplets-"

"They're brats," Goldie deadpanned, earning an elbow to the side from Freddy. "What?! It's true!"

"As I was saying," Freddy sighed, "in my free time I enjoy reading and singing. My friends all moved away so that's irrelevant. Goldie?"

"Right," Goldie agreed. "Basically, it's the same exact thing up until free time. I mean, I like singing too, but I'm more partial to going out and, you know, having fun to staying inside and reading."

"There's nothing wrong with reading," Freddy defended.

"Not for you," Goldie countered, his gaze sliding over to the third Bear. "What about the little Bear Colonist?"

"If you call me that again you'll find your face nailed to a tree in the morning," Red threatened, though it just earned a laugh from the group while Goldie mock-pouted. Somehow, though, Blu had a feeling the threat wasn't actually as empty as everyone else thought. "I live with my parents in the forest region of Ardraw," Red continued, humming softly as he thought his words over. "I'm still in school, but my parents are encouraging me to become the village representative. It doesn't appeal to me, to be honest."

"Any siblings?" Mangle asked curiously, raising a brow. Apparently they had also caught the lack of "only child" in Red's words.

There was a brief silence before Red simply said, "Nights on Ardraw are harsh." Blu had a feeling he understood what that meant. "I prefer to keep to myself, read, and write when I can." That was clearly the end of, as after finishing those final words Red glanced at Blu, raising a brow at him.

It took Blu a few moments to realize Red was signalling it was his turn, and it suddenly hit him that... he had no idea what to say.

Blinking, Blu looked at the fire. "Uh... I live with my parents in Capitol Square," he muttered, unsure of what else to say. "Um... no siblings, no friends, no hobbies. I'm just a science student."

"Liar," Bonnie snorted, and immediately Blu's eyes flew up to him. "You made a Chaska," he accused. Blu furrowed his brow, confused.

"Uh... no I didn't," Blu protested, but the Lacatran's brother simply pointed to a roughly familiar shape sitting against a tree. Blu couldn't deny that it _was_ vaguely Chaska-like. _When did I do that?_ "... Oh."

"Besides, you've already said you like music," Bonnie added, rolling his eyes. "So how about you just stop with the clinical, clean answers and tell the damned truth."

Blu felt like he should be offended- that Rabbit knew _nothing_ about him, after all, but from the way Red was looking at him, he seemed to agree.

But there was nothing _to_ say. He didn't have any friends and his mother didn't allow him to have any hobbies.

"There's really nothing else," Blu told them, feeling almost defeated- because he _wanted_ to believe that there was more. "I like music but I can't call it a hobby, right before we came here my mother confiscated my, uh, instrument." He didn't want to use the word _Chaska,_ not when there were Lacatrans around and they _clearly_ pronounced it differently than what he had always thought. "Said it got in the way of my schoolwork, called it a disgusting primitive device and threatened to toss it out if I didn't improve my school grades," he added in a bitter mutter, looking away from the Lacatrans. "That's literally all."

"What about your father?" Chii questioned. "Surely he has-"

"No." Quickly he looked back towards the Lacatrans, hoping he didn't look as tense as he felt. His bones were freezing, and he had a feeling that it wasn't from the rain anymore. "Well?"

Bonnie eyed him, his red eyes reflecting the firelight. Something in those eyes unnerved Blu, but he refused to back down.

It looked like Bonnie _knew_ something.

"My parents are dead and I live with Spring and our younger brother," Bonnie answered finally, his eyes never leaving Blu's. "I'm done with school and am training to become a village guard."

 _He's training to become a soldier,_ Blu understood. _He's training to fight in the next rebellion._

 _He's training to get himself killed, is what he's doing._

"And for the record," Bonnie added, and Blu had a feeling he was talking directly to him, "I play the Chaska in my free time." _Yeah, definitely talking to me._

As though he wanted to dispel the awkward, tense air that had erupted during Blu's explanation and Bonnie's subsequent... _Challenge? What is it, even?,_ the golden Lacatran started, "I take care of our little brother and care for the village elderly and disabled, with help from other village members of course."

That was honestly surprising to Blu; he hadn't expected the Rabbit who threatened to kill him just moments after noticing his presence would be a caretaker. Apparently it was surprising to the others, too, as Blu saw more than a few brows raise at the new information. Bonnie just snorted, finally tearing his gaze from Blu to look around at everyone's surprised expressions.

"What?" he drawled, clearly amused as he leaned back on one hand. "Didn't think my hotheaded, acts-before-he-thinks, somewhat-violently inclined brother could be a domestic housemaker?"

Spring promptly hit him upside the head, shouting, "I'm not a domestic housemaker, you _chithk!"_ This, of course, immediately broke the tension between Lacatran and Lapinian, and the rest of the group started laughing as the two Colonists began arguing, very loudly, what defined a Lacatran "domestic housemaker."

Blu didn't really understand the term, to be honest, but apparently it was considered an insult on some level. Why, Blu wouldn't know; he personally had to commend anyone who could properly care for a home and all of its inhabitants, with or without help.

Lacatrans, he reminded himself, were very different.

However, Blu couldn't help but wonder if the argument was Spring's endgoal. The golden Rabbit _did_ look a little too satisfied to have just suffered an insult. _If it_ was _his goal,_ he noted silently to himself, shifting away from the fire and closer to the falling rain, _then he's sneakier than I thought. And his brother fell right into the trap._

He closed his eyes, listening to the sudden influx of conversation around him and the dwindling argument between the brothers as each were drawn into a different conversation. No one tried to pull him into conversation, something for which he was glad. The people around him weren't all that bad, and he didn't want them to know just how...

Nevermind.

He listened to the rain falling on the roof and outside, hitting the trees and leaves and the grass-covered ground. He listened to the wind in the trees, the distant thunder, and the voices filling the air around him, allowing the sound to relax him and chase his darker thoughts and memories away- allowing him to live in that moment.

 _Is this what it's like to be normal? Is this what it's like to be... not-Lapinian?_

He smiled.


End file.
